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JOHNJSTONJ COUINJTY:^ 

ECOIM0M1JC AND SOCIAL 




W. M. SANDERS, Jr. 
G. Y. RAGSDALE 

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
JUNE 13, 1922 



^ _,. .. 

I The Citizens *\Bank and Trust ! 

Company 

BENSON, N. C. 



Capital & Surplus $75,000.00 

I 
! 
I 

I We enjoy a most liberal patronage of the 

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i county as vv^ell as elsewhere. We began busi- 
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1 successfully weathered every wintry blast 
j up to the present and we expect to continue 

2 to grow. We offer every facility consistent 
I with good banking and cordially invite your 

inspection and business. 



' H. A. PARKER W. R. STRICKLAND, [ 



President Cashier 



Whitehead 
and Springes 



BUILDING SUPPLIES 

BASEMENT TO ATTIC 



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Smithfield, N. C. Telephone 1 95 



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Ford, Fordson and Lincoln 

With our Modern up to the Minute Service Stations 
at Smithfield and Benson, N. C. We are in position to 
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We" employ only competent mechanics and have 
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Phone 168, Smithfield, N. C. Phone 97, Benson, N- C. 
BUY A FORD AND BANK THE DIFFERENCE 



JOHNSTON COUNTY: 

Economic and Social 



Wr Mf SANDERS Jr. 
G. Y. RAGSDALE 



A Laboratory Study in the Rural Social Science 

Department of the University of 

North Carolina 



The Expense of Publication and Distribution is Borne by 
tne Advertising and Gifts of Wide-awake and Gen- 
erous Business Men of the County. We wish 
to Extend to Them our Heartiest Appre- 
ciation and Best Wishes 



JUNE 13, 1922 






THE SMITHPIELO OBSERVER 
aMITHPIELO, N. C. 

In Exchange 
Univ. of North Carolina 
SEP 2 7 1933 



< 

> 



CONTENTS 



Acknowledgments . 6 

Foreword 7 

Historical Background 9 

Natural Resources, Industries and Opportunities 20 

Facts About the Folks 33 

Wealth and Taxation 39 

Six-Year Gains in White Schools, 1914-15 to 1920-21 46 

Home Raised Food and the Local Market Problem 61 

Things to be Proud of in Johnston 70 

Our Problems and Their Solution .... 76 

Iron Ore in Johnston County 83 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We wish to extend our heartiest thanks to the business men 
of Johnston county who have made this bulletin possible' by 
means of their advertisements, for it was due to their generosity 
in giving us advertisements that makes it possible. To them we 
are very grateful. 

The authors are also indebted to various public officials who 
have supplied us with information in regard to their departments, 
and also to private individuals, and we appreciate the interest 
shown by them. In particular are we grateful to Dr. E. C. 
Branson, head of the Rural Social Economics Department of the 
University, and to his assistant, Professor S. H. Hobbs, Jn These 
two gentlemen guided us throughout the preparation and publi- 
cation of the bulletin, giving us suggestions, and directed us in 
the use of state and county studies that have been prepared by 
this Department during the last eight years. 

University of North Carolina. W. M. SANDERS, Jr. 

June 13, 1922. G. Y. RAGSDALE 



FOREWORD 



S. H. HOBBS, Jr. 

Department of Rural Social Economic?, University of North 

Carolina. 

Johnston County: Economic and Social, is the work of two 
University students from Johnston county, prepared under the 
supervision, and from the files of the Rural Social Economics De- 
partment of the State University. Thij is the ninth county bul- 
letin to be printed by University students, and it is a county 
bulletin unique in the entire nation. Nowhere else in America 
are college students taking accurate stock of their home counties 
and passing the information on to the home folks. Elsewhere 
people know about their state and county in several ways; but 
in this small book you will find accurate information about your 
county and state, how your county ranks with other counties in 
North Carolina, w^hat you have, what you need to have, and sug- 
gestions for making Johnston a great and better county. 

The preparation of this bulletin has been a vital experienoc in 
the lives of its editors. They know more about Johnsioa county 
than any two dozen people who have spent their entir lives with- 
in her borders. They have completely and thorou°rhly prepared 
a study that wil be of enduring value. They have made it pos- 
sible for Johnston to get a look at herself for the first time, and 
in the main she looks good, gi-eat. But .she has weak spots. Her 
weaknesses have been pointed out and remedies suggested. 

We sincerely urge the teachers, preachers, farmers, lawyers, 
doctors, all thinking people, to study the contents of this val- 
uable book on your home county that you may love her better 
for knowing her better, and, knowing her needs, be willing to 
remedy them. 

Chapel Hill, N. C. 
June 13, 1922. 



I 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR JOHNSTON 
COUNTY 



G. Y. RAGSDALE 

Smithfield, N. C. 

Johnston County was formed in the year 1746, largely from 
Craven county, which at that time embraced a large part of the 
Coastal Plains area of North Carolina. New Bern was then the 
center of government; all the triials were held there, taxes were 
paid there, and for every detail of governmental affairs, the inter- 
ested party had to go to New Bern. Because of the growing 
population, as a matter of expediency, a charter was granted by 
the Colonial Assemibly for the formation of Johnston county. The 
county is named for Gabriel Johnston then governor of the 
province of North Carolina. Governor Johnston was "a man 
of learning, and did much to advance the interests of the Colony 
over which he presided, and the happiness of the people." Out 
of love and veneration for this gentleman the county was named 
Johnston. 

Smithfield is the county seat. In the early days of the colon- 
ization of America it was a center of political and social life. 
Smithfield is situated 28 miles southeast of Raleigh, on the Neuse 
river. An old tradition has it that Smithfield missed bedng the 
State capital by one vote, a vote cast by a Johnston county rep- 
resentative to the Assembly; but of this I have been able to find 
no record. Very few traces of the old aristocratic bearing of'the 
town are in evidence today. 

The county of Johnston is located in the east central part of 
the State. On the north it is bounded by Nash, Wilson, and 
Franklin counties; on the east by Wayne and Wilson; on the 
south by Sampson and Harnett; and on the west by Wake and 
Harnett. It has a present day population of 48,998, as compared 
with 11,860 in 1850, at that time ranking 20th, today ranking 
8th. In 1850 there were $1,437 paid in taxes for common 
schools. The total taxes paid in that year were $1,840. There 
were then 142 whites over 21 years of age that could neither 
read nor write; six deaf and dumb; 14 idiotic and insane; and 7 
blind. 



10 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

The climate is delightful, affording splendid crop weather, -with- 
out excess of heat, rain or cold. Towards the west the contour 
of the county begins to roll, and gives the scenery characteristic 
of the mid-state counties. There are abundant pasture lands and 
a goodly amount of low grounds borderng rivers and creeks, es- 
pecially the Neuse, the largest stream in the county. The 
county is noted for its cotton and tobacco; in the production of 
both these commodities it is one of the state leaders. 

The earliest inhabitants of Johnston were Tuscaroras, an In- 
dian trfibe of great size and strength. There is ample evidence 
of their existence still to be found, such as a few tomahawks, 
peace pipes, and an abundance of arrow heads in certain 
sections. It is interesting to note that, as the white race began to 
move in, there was at no time any friction between the two 
races. The earliest settlers of the county were Scotch. 

Many of them moved further west into the Piedmont section, 
but those that remained made hardy settlers, and by them the 
early fate of the county was determined. They prospered here. 
The rich lands yielded good crops, and its many pines made the 
turpentine industry a popular one. The English came in later, 
and in hearty co-operation these two races began to shape the 
destiny of the county. 

Johnston is divided into 18 townships: Bentonville, Meadow, 
Banner, Boon Hill, Beulah, Wilders, Ingrams, Pleasant Grove, 
Cleveland, Elevation, O'Neals, Selma, Wiljon's Mills, Pine Level, 
'Clayton, Micro, and Smithfield. 

Revolutionary Period 

In the early days of the colonization of North Carolina, John- 
ston county played no mean part. One of the leading men of 
that time, Colonel Needham Bryan, was from Johnston. He at- 
tended practically every patriotic gathering held in the Colony 
as a representative of Johnston county. He was active as a 
leader, both in his county and state. It is interesting to not:? 
at this point that one of the Bryans — ^Needham Bryan, Need- 
ham Bryan, Jr., Hardy Bryan, John Bryan or William Bryan — 
served the county in practically every Assembly and Revoluti <!•- 
ary Congress from 1760 to 1788. At some of the Assemblies at 
least two of the Bryans served together. In 1921 a letter was 
published in the Herald from the mother of these boys, which 
was sent to two of them while they were serving with the revol- 
utionary forces during the Revolutionary War. 

The first and second meetings of the Provincial Council were 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 11 

held at the Court House in Smithfield on October 18, 1775, and 
December 18, 1775, respectively. Benjamin Williams, who serv- 
ed as a Representative to the Colonial Assembly from Johnston 
county in 1775, and to the Revolutionary Congress in August 
1774 and August 1775, served as a lieutenant in the Second 
Regiment of the Rebel forces, the first Continental Army ever 
organized. Richard Caswell made his first appearance on the 
political stage as a Representative to the Colonial Assembly from 
Johnston county in 1754. A large part of the troops under Col. 
Jame9 Moore who fought the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge 
were from Johnston county. The first iron blast furnace ever to 
be used in North Carolina was in Johnston county. A great 
number of the Revolutionary War troops came from Johnston, 
and this same county furnished a great amount of food for 
those troops. 

A clause in the bill providirtg for the formation of Johnston 
county provided for the establishment of the first county parish. 
In those days the established church was the Church of England, 
and every county was a parish. The Johnston county parish 
was called "Saint Patrick's Parish," and the first vestrymen were : 
Simon Bright, John Herring, Thos. McClendon, John Beeton, Ab- 
raham Boyd, Ambrose Airis, John Irons, John Carraway, John 
Smith, Samuel Smith, Robert Raeford, and John Beaker. 

The first county court ever held in Johnston was held in the 
dwelling house of one Francis Stringer, who operated a ferry on 
the Neuse river. This was because the county court house had 
not yet been completed. The first county commissioners were 
Willam Eaton, Francis Stringer, William Persons, and James 
Macklenean. 

Academies 

The contract for the first Academy in Johnston county was let 
June 23, 1804. It was knovni as the Averasborough Academy, at 
Averasborough. Contracts for the construction of the Smith- 
field Academy, siituated in Smithfield, were let on August 10, 
1812. The dimensions were 22 feet by 40 feet, "two stories 
hight, and with such conveniences as are necessary for an Acad- 
emy." This Academy was opened for the first time on October 
11, 1813, under the direction of Dr. Willie N. White, An adver- 
tisement published in New Bern in that month read, "Board can 
be had for four or five dollars at convenient and respectable 
housea." 

The minutes of the State Legislature for the 1832 sessdon read 



12 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

thus: 

"Monday, January 9, 1832. Mr. Thompson presented a bill to 
raise a fund to establlish free schools in the County of Johnston, 
and for the government thereof, which was read for the fir^t 
time and passed." — (Senate Journal, 1831-32, Page 112.) 

"Monday afternoon, January 9, 1832. A bill to raise a fund 
to establish free schools in the County of Johnston, and the gov- 
ernment thereof, was read the second time and passed, and or- 
dered to be engrossed." — (Senate Journal 1831-32. Page 115.) 

"Tuesday, January 13, 1832. A bill to raise funds for the 
establishment of free schools in the County of Johnston, and the 
management thereof, was read for the first time and passed." — 
(House Journal 1831-32. Pages 18, 242 and 243.) 

"Friday, January 16, 18'3'2. A bill engrossed to raise funds to 
establish free schools in the County of Johnston, and for the 
management thereof, was read for. the second and third times, 
passed, and ordered to be enrolled." — (House Journal 1831-32. 
Page 252.) 

The Representative to the Senate from Johnston county at 
this time was David Thompson. The members of the House from 
Johnston were Josiah Houlder and Ashley Sanders. 

Civil War Period 

During the War Between the States, Johnston county furnished 
a great numher of troops, her valiant sons answered the call for 
men in great numbers. One of the final battles of the war was 
fought in the southern part of the county on March 19, 1865. 
On the eighteenth in the early morning, General Wade Hampton, 
commanding a part of Johnston's army, placed his men across the 
Bentonville road in an attempt to block the approach of the 
advance guard of Sherman's Army which was on its way to 
Goldsboro to join another division of the Union troops; together 
they were to march to Richmond and join with Grant in an at- 
tempt to capture Lee's army. General Hampton's army was plac- 
ed at the spot where the Smithfield-Fayetteville and the Fayette- 
ville-Goldsboro roads crossed. He wished to hold the advancing 
Yankee troops in check until General John?ton could arrive from 
Smithfield with his army. General Johnston arrived that night, 
and the battle began early on the next day. 

The fighting was severe and continued for several hours. Great 
bravery was displayed on both sides, and the personal achieve- 
ments of the officers won great praise. The Confederates were 
victorious at first, and hopes for the victory were high. But grad- 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 13 

ually Union troops arrived, and the Confederates were slowly 
pushed back. When Johnston realized that owing to the superior 
numbers of the enemy he would sooner or later be surrounded 
and captured, he gave orders for a retreat, and his army took the 
road for Raleigh without further molestation from Sherman's 
army, whose wish was to get to Goldsboro at the earliest moment. 
This was the last of the important battles of the Civil War that 
took place east of the Mississippi river. 

The Confederate casualties were reported at 239 killed, 1,694 
wounded, and 673 missing — a total of 2,606. They reported 
that 903 prisoners were captured. Before this disastrous battle, 
Johnston and his army had been camping at Elevation. The bat- 
tle ground still bears marks of the struggle, but is in a very bad 
condition. Many of the buried bodies have been rooted up by 
animals, and the straying of cattle over the field gives it a very 
bad appearance today. 

On the 22nd of March, Johnston and his army were back in 
Smithfield on their way to Raleigh. Generals Bragg and Hoke 
were also with him. 

Towns 

-Smithfield is the largest and oldest town in the county, and is 
the county seat. It was incorporated and granted its charter by 
the General Assembly that met in New Bern August 25, 1775. 
The torwn was named for a family of Smiths whose descendants 
are still residing in the town. John Smith, and according to Mrs. 
George W. Woodard of Brevard, N. C, "the original John Smith," 
was born in March, 1687. He moved from Virginia in 1742, and 
settled in Johnston county. He gave the land on which the John- 
ston County Court House now stands, and out of respect and 
veneration for this gentleman the town was named Smithfield. 
He served as the first Representative of the county in the Col- 
onial Assembly in 1746. He continued to serve for the remainder 
of his life, the last session that he attended being in January 
1773. He died some time after this, and was buried on the left 
bank of the Neuse river, back of the old Methodist Church. 

Smithfield has been visited by several important statesmen and 
high officials. Daniel Webster practiced law in the county for 
some time, and court has always been held here. William Jen- 
nings Bryan made a speech here in the early spring of 1920 be- 
fore one of the largest gatherings that has ever been witnessed in 
the county. Generals Joseph E. Johnston, Bragg, and Wade 
Hampton all spent a short while here before and after the 



14 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Battle of Bentonville. The house in which they were entertained 
is still standing. 

Sm'.thfield has suffered several hard blows in the course of her 
lifetime. One of these was (according to tradition) that she 
lacked only one vote of becoming the State Caplital. Another was 
when a Smithfield man cast the deciding vote as to the location 
of the Southern Railway. He feared that the smoke and noise 
would be injurious to the quiet life of the village, and that the 
health of someone might be impaired by the gases from the 
smoke; consequently he cast his vote as favoring running the 
road farther north. Another blow was suffered when the proposed 
Goldjboro-Salisbury railway project was abandoned after the 
tracks had been laid from Goldsboro to Smithfield. Today the 
town is fast increasing in population and, with the hearty co- 
operation of all the citizens, it is progressing in every way. 

Wilson's Mills is the E'econd oldest town in the county. Its 
h'.story is more the history of a family than is the case with any 
other tow.i in the county. T. M. Wilson was its first citizen. 
This man founded the town, and the Wdlson family still lives there 
and owns a large part of the property in and around it. But 
the Wilsons, though they own much property and have done 
much toward the upbuilding of the town, are by no means the 
sole factors in her continued upbuilding and progress. There 
are many families in the little town, and they all work together, 
especially when it means something for community betterment 
The town was named and chartered in 18.68, It was not incor- 
porated in 1920. 

Johnston's third oldest town is Pine Level. As the name in- 
dicates, nature played a part in the christening of this little city. 
Away back in the days of the hardy pioneers, there were great 
forests of pine in this section, and the surface of the ground was 
more or less level. Hence the name. The citizens of this little 
city all pull together, and they believe that there is nothing too 
good for their town when it comes to a problem of progressive- 
nes3. The town was chartered shortly after 1868. Gaston Britt 
was the pioneer merchant of Pine Level, then followed Bryant 
Hinnant, also a merchant. Then came T. T. and W. B. Oliver,, 
who really gave the town its start. The Olivers still live there, 
and are among the leaders of the town in its every walk. 

Selma, the town with the best railroad facilities in Eastern 
Carolina, got its charter in 1873. It was first known as Mitch- 
iner's station, but the site of the old station is today one and one- 
b^lf miles west of the present site of the town. About fifty years 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 15 

ag'O, a man who was then living in Clayton sold out his holdings 
there to Ashley Home, and moved to Mitchiner's station. That 
man was A, M. Noble. There was a turpentine still at that time 
where the home of Dr. J. A. Noble now stands. The guardian of 
John Mitchiner refused to sell the property around the station 
for the purpose of iilnprovements, and, as a result of this, Messrs. 
NoUe, Sellers, and John W, Sharpe, of Norfolk, Va., a man in- 
terested in the development of the turpentine industry, persuad- 
ed Henry Webb, then president of the North Carolina Railroad, 
to move the station to where Selma now stands. The three men 
decided to name the place Selma, after Selma, Alabama. Selma 
at once began to be a hustling and thriving town; it was incor- 
porated in 1873, and has been going strong ever since. With hun- 
dreds of passengers changing trains there daily, and as a leading 
shipping point, the town is destined to become a great center of 
industrialism. 

Princeton was chartered as a prohibition town in the year 1873. 
This is a distinction that few towns in the state can claim. The 
charter was granted with the condition, however, that the town 
could get on the 'wet' list if it so chose, and an opportunity was 
given every year in the annual elections. Having no particular 
desire to remain dry, the inhabitants voted for it to have open 
bars. The charter was granted under the name of Boone Hill, the 
name of the township in which it still stands, but in 1873, with 
the permission of the State Legislature, the name was changed 
to Princeton, which name it still bears. 

The property on which the town is located was originally owned 
by Wiley Hastings. When he died he left no heirs, and the prin- 
cipal business enterprises were taken over by Henry Holt, and 
later handed down to his son, Ed. A. Holt, who is one of the 
town's leading citizens and businesia men. Another of the town's 
prominent merchants in the early days was Herman Lewis. Mr. 
Hastings also gave the property on which the depot was built, 
and that on which the first church in the town was built. He 
was intereated in the affairs of the town in various other way3, 
and contributed much to its successful start. He died in 1880. 

Four Oaks applied for and got its charter in 1881. The men 
chiefly responsible for the birth of the town and much of its sub- 
sequent growth were John A. Ford, K. L. Barbour, and Ezekiel 
Creech. The town was named by Mr. Barbour. He was one of 
the pioneers in the development of this section, and the first man 
to build a house there. Fn his front yard there were four large 
oaks, and, in search of a name, he decided to use the quartet. 



16 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

To the above three men is chiefly due the credit of putting the 
town on its feet. 

The town of Clayton came into existence one year after this. 
Today it is one of the largest and most thriving towns in the 
county. Clayton was at first known as Stallings, the name com- 
ing from one of its earlie9t citizens, a widow. When the North 
Carolina railroad passed through Stallings, the name was chkn^- 
ed to Stallings Station. Later, when the railroad had gone on to 
Greensboro, there stepped off it one morning a gentleman wear- 
ing a high hat, a long coat, and other fashionable wearing ap- 
parel that stamped him as an individual of some distinction. He 
was not a preacher as you might think from the description, but a 
teacher. He was from Tennessee, and in search of a good, healthy 
locality in which to eetablish a school. He stayed at Stallings Sta- 
tion for several days. He liked the people, the climate, the lo- 
cation, and it was here that he built his school, calling it Clayton 
Academy. The school flourished and the town prospered.^ The old 
name of Stallings Station passed away, and instead Clayton was 
employed. Since then it has continued to prosper, and today it 
is one of the leading towns in the county. 

Benson, it is interesting to note, dates its real birth back to 
about the time when the Atlantic Coast Line railroad plowed its 
way through the county — 1889. Benson was founded by and 
named for M. C. Benson, one of the pioneer settlers and great 
land owners of the section. The town started with the avowed 
purpose of being an agricultural center rather than an industrial 
center, and it has reached its aim to a large extent. It Mes nest- 
led in one of the richest agricultural sections in the state. How- 
ever, progress did not follow a set routine in that town, and it 
has developed some important industrial establishments as well. 
Among the first ctizens to start things going in Benson were: M. 
and J. W. W'ood, C. T. John.= on, and J. D. Parrish, father of Alon- 
zo Parrish, one of the leading and most influential townsmen 
of today. Messrs. John?on and Parrish were the chief factors in 
the establishment of the town, and to them goes the principal 
credit for the rapid growth and development of the city. Benson 
claims the distinction of having a fifty-p(iece military band. 

Another town in Johnston owes its birth to the Atlantic Coast 
Line railroad, and that town is Kenly. The present site of Kenly 
was oriiginally owned by Miss Lottie Watkins, and it was entire- 
ly agricultural in nature. The advent of the railroad brought 
"bout the establishment of a turpentine plant and several mer- 
cantile houses. Kenly's pioneer merchant was A. H. Slocomb of 



Johnston County : Economic and Social 17 

Fayetteville, who owned the distillery as well as a large mercan- 
tile establishment. The original school at Kenly was built by J. 
T. and W. H. Edgerton in 1890. Jesse Kirby built the first two- 
story house in Kenly; he was the father of J. H. Kirby, later pres- 
ident of the Bank of Kenly. The first Mayor was) C. W. Edger- 
ton. The first town Council was composed of D. H. Hinnant, E. 
O. Barnes, E. M. Hunger, Jesse Kirby, and Sam Joyner. One 
of the leading ministers in the Baptist denomination in the South 
firijt preached in Kenly — Dr. Len G. Broughton, who was founder 
of the Atlanta Tabernacle, pastor of Grace Church in London and 
of a large church in Knoxville, Tenn., and who is at present serv- 
ing as pastor of one of the leading Baptist churches in Richmond, 
Va. 

Micro was first called Jerome, after Jerome Creech, who own- 
ed the greater part of the land in that section at the time that 
the Atlantic Coast Line railroad laid the 'short cut' to Florence. 
There was another Jerome in North Carolina, in Bladen county. 
The people of that section grew tired of having mail and freight 
mis-shipped to that point, and in 1905, with the permission of the 
State Legislature, the name was changed to Micro. 

A. P. Peacock was the first merchant to establish himsielf there. 
Dixon Pierce soon became a big merchant there, and his two sons, 
C. W. and R. C. Pierce, are still in business there. 

The first Mayor of Micro was A. B. Peacock The first town 
council was composed of W. E. Smith, Jerome Creech, and J. H. 
Aycock. Micro is progressive in every sense of the word. 

Other Interesting Facts 

Prior to the Civil War, Johnston county was alternately Demo- 
cratic and Whig in national and state elections, and since that 
time the county has gone Republican in the following National 
elections: 1872, Grant; 1896, McKinley; and 1908, Taft. In 
state elections for Governors she has voted the Republican ticket 
in the following years since the Civil War: 1868, 1876, 1880 
and 1884. Since that time the majority vote in state elections 
has been Democratic in every instance. 

The first warehouse for the sale of leaf tobacco ever to be 
built in the county was at Smithfield in the year 1898. The 
contract was let on January. 16 of that year. This warehouse 
was known as the Banner, and it still retains that name. About 
this time W. M. Sanders built a large warehouse and called it 
the 'Riverside' owing to the fact that it was built about 100 
yards from the left bank of the Neuse river. In addition to this 



18 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

he erected a four story prize house. Both of these are still 
standing, hut in recent years the warehouse has been turned into 
a very large and up-to-date garage, known as the Sanders Motor 
Co. The principal stock-holder in this concern is a son of Mr. 
Sanders. The prize house is still being used for the handling of 
tobacco. The Farmer's warehouse was built a few years later, 
and today it is one of the largest warehouses in the state. 

Johnston county has produced very few eminently great men. 
One of her more outstanding public men is Edwin W. Pou, now 
Congressman from the 4th Congressional District. Mr. Pou, 
however, was not born in the county. He was born in Alabama, 
and moved here while a boy. 

Members of the Colonial Assemblies from Johnston county: 
1746. John Smith and John West. 

1746-54. John Smith and John Herring. Richard Caswell, Jr., 
Stephen Cade. 

1760. Needham Bryan and John Hinton. * 

1761. John Hinton and Needham Bryan. 

1762. (April). Needham Bryan and John Hinton. 
1762 (November). Needham Bryan and John Hinton. 
1764-65. Needham Bryan and I'enjamin Hardy. 
1766-68. Needham Bryan and Benjamin Hardy. 
1769. Needham Bryan and John Smith, 

1770-71. John Smith and Joel Lane. 
1773 (January). William Bryan and John Smith. 
1773-74. Needham Bryan and John Smith. 
1775. Needham Bryan and Benjamin Williams. 

Memhers of the Revolutionary Con'gresses from Johnston 

County: 

Aug. 1774. Needham Bryan and Benjamin Williams. 

April 1775. No record. 

Aug. 1775. Needham Bryan, William Bryan, John Smith, Sam- 
uel Smith, and Benjamin Williams. 

April 1776. Needham Bryan, Jr., Samuel Smith Jr., John Stev- 
ens, Henry Rains, and Alexander Averyt. 

Members of State Conventions from Johnston county 1788- 
1789: 

1788. William Bridgers, Joseph Boon, William Farmer, John 

Bryan and Everett Pearce. 

1789. Samuel Smith, Hardy Bryan, Wm. Bridgers, Wm. Hack- 

ney, and Mathias Handy. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 19 

Sources of Information 

Smithfield Observer, September 13, 1921; Smithfield Herald; * 
North Carolina Manual for 1913; Biographical Congressional 
Directory; Colonial Records of North Carolina; Colonial and State 
Records; North Carolina Day Programme for 1905; Ante Bellum 
Builders of North Carolina; North Carolina Schools and Academies; 
Public Education; Correspondence of Johnathan Worth; Papers of 
Thomas Ruffin; Papers of Archibald D. Murphey; Hamilton's Re- 
construction in North Carolina; Memoirs of General Sherman 
and the Narrative of General Joseph E. Johnston; Wheeler's 
Sketches of North Carolina; Rural Social Science Files, Univer- 
sity of North Carolina. 



II 

RESOURCES, INDUSTRIES, AND OPPORTUNITIES 
IN JOHNSTON COUNTY 



G. Y. RAGSDALE 

Smithfield, N. C. 

Georgraphy 

Johnston county is situated on the Western edge of the Coastal 
Plain area. It has an area of approximately 778 square miles, 
or 516,480 acres. The northwest side of the county is about 
15 miles east of Raleigh. It is bounded on the northeast and 
east by Nash, Wilson and Wayne counties, on the south by Wayu 
and Sampson .counties, on the west and southwest by 
Harnett and Sampson counties, and on the north and 
northwest by Wake county. The surface features consist 
of high, rolling uplands and broad, gently undulating inter- 
stream areas in the wide, level stretches. There is a gentle but 
fairly well defined slope throughout the Coastal Plain section of 
the county. Elevations vary from 350 feet through the central 
part of the county, to about 80 feet on the southeast corner, 
where the Neuse river leaves the area. 

The chief source of drainage is the Neuse river, into which 
empty numerous creeks and branches. The river enters the 
county about midway on the northwest boundary line, following 
a generally southeasterly course, and leaves the area on the 
southwest corner. The most important creeks emptying into it 
are Swift, Middle, Black, Hannah, Stone, and Mill creeks on the 
southerly side, and on the north and northeastern sides Little 
river, Buffalo, Cat Tail, Little, Bowdy, Long Branch, and Moc- 
casin creeks. The county as a whole is exceedingly well drained. 

Soils and Seasons 

The soils in Johnston county may be classes in three groups 
according to their origin: The sedimentary soils of the Coastal 
Plains; the residual soils of the Piedmont Plateau, and the allu- 
vial soils developed along the streams throughout the county. 
There are a total of 28 types of soils, including meadow and 
swamp. The most prominent of these is the Norfolk sandy loam. 
This soil is well adapted to truck crops, cotton, corn, and to- 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 21 

bacco, all of which have very good yields. Other prevalent soils 
are the Cecil soils, of which the coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, 
fine sandy loam, stony sandy loam^ and clay loam, are well 
suited for the production of oats, wheat, corn, clover, cowpeas, 
and to some extent, tobacco and cotton. Land values in the 
county vary from $20 to $200 and more an acre. 

The climate of the county is well suited for a wide range of 
products. Truck and stock farming are growing rapidly in ex- 
tent. The winters are short and comparatively mild, the mean 
winter temperature being 42 degrees. The summers are long 
and not excessively hot. The mean summer temperature is 77 
degrees F. The average annual rainfall is about 50 inches and is 
well distributed throughout the year. Crops seldom suffer from 
drought, and the growing season is about 200 days, long enough 
for all ordinary crops. 

With such seasons, it is not surprising that agriculture is the 
principal industry of the people. The principal crops are cotton, 
corn and tobacco as leaders, with sweet potatoes, peas, forage, 
and grain as secondary crops. 

Johnston ranks second in the production of cotton in the 
state. Last year (1921) 48,047 bales were produced on 62,011 
acres, a yield of .77 bales to the acre, which is .15 more bales 
to the acre than the stage average. Much of this is used by the 
factories in the county, but a greater part is shipped away. 

We rank second in the state in the production of corn. The 
average yield per acre is 22.1 bushels, as compared with the 
state average of 17.7 bushels. Practically all of this goes to feed 
the stock, and into meal. The yield is increasing annually, due to 
advanced methods of production, and to the activities of Corn 
Clubs and county agents. 

In tobacco, Johnston ranks fourth in the state in production, 
producing 9,357,193 pounds of the golden weed in 1921, and 
bettering the state average per acre yield of 610.3 pounds by 
75.3 pounds. The production of tobacco in the county has 
greatly increased within the last decade. 

Potatoes are raised in large quantities also, but in production 
they are far behind the above named products. The same may 
be said for peas, forage, and grain. Peas are mostly sown broad- 
cast in corn fields. Grain is raised chiefly in the northern part 
of the county. The forage is used in feeding workstock during 
the winter months. Peanuts are raised in small quantities. The 
possibilities for this crop are very good and the industry will in 
all probability grow in the future. 



22 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Cotton finds a ready market in all the towns of the county. 
Tobacco is sold to the greatest extent in Smithfield, but Benson 
has a fast growing market. 

Truck farming in the county is rapidly increasing. Fruits are 
shipped from the southern part of the county, and find a ready 
market in the North. Great quantities of watermelons are ship- 
ped annually from Clayton. As many as 100 carloads are ship- 
ped from this point yearly. 

In 1920 the land in farms totaled 212,552 acres, with a value 
of $40,747,814. There were 2,508 farmers who reported expen- 
ditures for labor in that year, their returns amounting to $380,- 
428. The 6,431 farmers reporting expenditures for fertilizers 
spent, $2,391,401 on this item. The 3,230 farmers reporting as 
buying farm feed for livestock spent for this feed $298,003. In 
total value of crops, Johnston stands third in the state, with $19,- 
229,785 in 1919. In that year there were 2,366 farms free from 
mortgage, while 604 reported mortgages. 

In the census of 1920 Johnston reported livestock on farms 
amounting in value to $2,920,971, and including 1,770 horses, 
8,798 mules, 8,435 cattle, 686 sheep, 46,369 swine, 186,000 chick- 
ens, 366 goats, and 2,566 hives of bees. 

The total valuation of property on the tax books in 1921 was 
$42,272,227. It was more than 60 million in 1920. In the 
production of agricultural wealth the county ranks 45th of all 
the counties in the United States. It is, however, a grievous 
truth that the county does not retain enough of the annual ag- 
ricultural wealth produced. Because of the system we follow, we 
consume our wealth in producing it. Witness our bank account 
savings. 

Lumber 

The lumber industry is one of no small importance. There are 
sevei-al lumber mills in the county, and a great number of saw 
mills. There is one veneer plant at Smithfield, which does a 
large amount of shipping to northern concerns. Perhaps the 
leading lumberman in the county is Mr. Arch Vinson, of Clayton. 
Mr. Vinson is the owner and operator of a very large lumber mill 
at Clayton, and has many saw mills scattered throughout the 
county. 

Pine, oak, hickory, gum, ash, and maple are the principal tim- 
bers cut. Great quantities are cut yearly, and a goodly amount 
is shipped to other markets after being sawed. The timber is 
kept cut down, and much is destroyed owing to injurious treat- 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 23 

ment of the younger timber while the older is being cut. The 
besit timber is fast disappearing. 

Dairying 

This industry was never attempted on a commercial basis until 
a few years ago. Since its advent into the county, it has been 
favorably met, both by local and distant patrons. One of the 
very best herds of cattle in the state is owned by Mr. L. F. Uz- 
zle, of Wilson's Mills. He supplies local needs and does a large 
amount of shipping to other points. Another up-to-date dairy 
is owned and operated by Mr. James Myatt, at Smithfield. Mr. 
Myatt has a very fine herd of cattle, and his dairy is helping to 
supply local needs. 

With the fine pasturage afforded within the county, there is no 
reason why the dairy industry could not be made a very profit- 
able one. Intelligent labor and short winters are two prime fac- 
tors in profitable dairying, and both are to be had in Johnston. 

Gin Plants and Oil Mills 

There are about 20 cotton gins in the county. All of these 
are operated at the present time, and are run by either 
electricity, water power, or engines. They buy cotton seed which 
they sell to the local oil mills. 

There are three oil mills in the county, one at Selma, one at 
Pine Level, and another at Clayton. All of these mills do a very 
large business, buying seed from the farmer, or giving him their 
products in exchange for the seed. These mills are a great asset 
to the county; they afford the farmers a market for their seed, 
and supply them with feed products direct from the mill doors. 

Tobacco Warehouses 

There are four warehouses for. the sale of leaf tobacco. Three 
of these are at Smithfield and one at L'enson. They are all large 
and well lighted. The warehousemen are all experts in the to- 
bacco business, and strive to get for the farmer a maximum 
price for his product. Three of the houses have a large grad- 
ing room, and are operated by the warehousemen on a commis- 
sion basis. 

Railroads and Highways 

The central part of Johnston county, in a line running north 
and south, is traversed by the main line of the Atlantic Coast Line 
railroad, which runs from New York to Jacksonville. There are 
two local freights that stop at every station on this road every 



24 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

day, one running north, the other south. There are several 
through freights that stop only in Selma. In addition to this, 
there are six local passenger trains and four through trains on 
this road daily. The best transportation facilities in the county 
are furnished by this road. 

A branch line of the above road runs from Goldsboro to Smith- 
field, known as "Captain Jack's Road," its name coming from 
the fact that Captain Jack Callier has been the conductor on this 
road since it was first laid. Practically all the freight shipped 
from the eastern part of the state to Smithfield comes over this 
road. 

The Southern Railway runs in an easterly-westerly direction 
from Goldsboro to Ashevlile. This road affords a good means for 
passenger and freight transportation, and stops at every town 
through which it runs in the county. 

The principal highways in Johnston are the National and the 
Central. These roads are in excellent condition, being main- 
tained by the State Highway Commission. Nearly all the main 
thoroughfares are also in good condition. Both the Central and 
the National highways are soon to be paved. 

Every town has a telephone system, and several telegraph 
offices. 

Water Power 

Johnston county is not so well blessed with water power as we 
could wish. True, several cotton gins, and grist mills are run 
by water power, but these consume little power. Practically all 
the streams in the county are slow and sluggish, and there are 
very few natural water falls. 

Opportunities 

As has been stated above, Johnston county is primarily an ag- 
ricultural county. There are very few manufacturing concerns 
in comparison to the great amount of farming. The greatest in- 
dividual industry other than farming in the county is that of 
lumber. There are 98 rough lumber mills, and 12 dressing and 
planing mills. There are 25 garages and repair shops, and 14 
miscellaneous industries, such as chemical and oil industries. 

With the natural advantages that the county has, there is every 
reason that she should produce more food crops in conjunction 
writh her enormous money crops. Cotton has long been the prin- 
cipal crop, with tobacco a second. There are only 7 cotton mills 
in the county. In 1920 they consumed 20,698 bales of the 48,047 



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EVOLUTION OF BENSON SCHOOLS 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 25 

bales produced. On the other hand there are only two redrying 
plants for tobacco, and they have a capacity of 92,000 pounds 
per day. This has been sufficient to care for all the drying needs 
in the past, but with the coming of the co-operative marketing 
plan, thejfe will be need to enlarge plants, or else to construct 
others. There is adequate negro labor for this kind of work, 
negroes being employed mainly in working the weed, and there 
is an abundance of white labor for more cotton mills, which are 
certainly needed for the development of the industrial life of the 
county. 

With her 28 types of soil, excellent climate, sufficient rainfall, 
and long growing season, Johnston should diversify her farming. 
At present, practically all the food produced in the county is 
consumed by the producers, while enormous quantities are im- 
ported from the north and west. The neighboring towns are not 
supplied with enough vegetables even during the summer months. 
A great many potatoes are shipped in yearly, and likewise a great 
amount of green produce. Hay is shipped in by the tons. Like- 
wise oats, and other foods for work animals. The two great food 
crops grown in Johnston are corn and sweet potatoes. Corn is fed 
to the work animals and ground into meal. The siweet potatoes 
are marketed in the county, to a great extent, but a few are 
shipped to outside points. We import practically all our flour, 
and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of other food sup- 
plies, the bulk of which could easily be produced at home. John- 
ston county is adequately equipped for furnishing labor to al- 
most any kind of industry where skilled labor is not required. 
There is an abundance of white labor and also of negro labor, 
although, fortunately for the county, only 24.6 per cent of the 
population are negroes. With this abundance of labor, food crops 
could be grown, and this would greatly enrich the population. 
Factories needing unskilled labor would also find a good labor 
supply. There is need of the3e two things toward the enrich- 
ment of the county — factories and food crops. 

Markets for Food Crops 

One of the county's greatest opportunities lies in the establish- 
ment of co-operative organizations of farmers and townspeople 
for the marketing of food supplies. Should such organizations 
for the marketing of the food supplies be effected, there is al- 
most no limit to the profits that could be realized both by the 
farmers who would get more for their surplus produce and by 
the townspeople who would get more for their dollar. Some 
little produce is shipped to northern markets now, as watermelons 



26 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

from Clayton and fruits from the southern part of the county. 
We ship more watermelons than anything else, about 100 car 
loads being sent out of the county annually. 

After we have established ourselves on a home-raised food and 
feed basis we can begin to develop in exportation to tlie outside 
world. We now send out fair totals but nothing as compared to 
our possibilities when our farmers organize co-operatively on a 
commodity basis to afford a safe market for the enormous totals 
we can produce. There is no safety in our present unorganized 
status. Marketing of farm products in large quantities can be 
done to the best advantage only when farmers are properly or- 
ganized into co-operative selling societies. 

The solution of marketing problems lies in co-operation of 
both producers and consumers. If the farmer could be im- 
pressed with the fact that should he produce more foodstuff and 
find a ready market in the nearby towns, even though only a small 
market, both he and the consumer, as well as the county at 
large, would be profited. Such a market supplies a constant ready 
cash income for the farmer, and a lessening of the high cost of liv- 
i.ig to the consumer; for of course foodstuffs will then become 
cheaper. There would be more ready cash among the farmers 
and the whole county would live on a higher level of diet. 

The following table £;how3 all the industries of Johnston coun- 
ty for the year 1920, as reported to the census authorities, and te 
the state department of labor and printing. 

MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES 

Rough Lumber, Post Office, Canital, Value Plant, Output Employes 

J. R. Beasley, Benson $ 

Willie Eeasley, iJenson __ 

D. O. Benson, Benson 

0. A. Benson, Jenson 

J. Willi.) Creech, Benson. _ 
W. R. Denning, Benson __ 

J. A. McLamb, Benson 

G. P. Matthews, Benson __ 
Moore Wood Mill, Benson 

A. P. Tart, Benson 

J. W. Wood, Jr., Benson 
Preston Woodall, 1 Benson 
Presiton Woodall, 1 Benson 
Ivey & Jeanette, Be.nton- 

ville 1,960 8,480 25,280 10 



2,500 


$ 1,450 


$ 5,000 


10 


1,250 


550 


2,250 


4 


1,500 


415 


2,250 


4 


1,000 


550 


2,250 


6 


2,000 


650 


3,000 


6 


2,500 


1,500 


7,500 


8 


1,250 


350 


1,500 


4 


1,500 


375 


1,500 


6 


6,300 


3,500 


4,O0J 


10 


1,500 


700 


3,000 


6 


2,000 


640 


2,700 


6 


14,200 


9,225 


2,700 


14 


31,000 


12,350 


31,400 


13 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 27 



N. T. Flowers, Bentonville 
A. M. Rose, Bentonville-- 
Percy Barbour, Clayton. _ 

J. S. Barnes, Clayton 

J. W. Barnes, Clayton 

G. C. Bryan, Clayton 

C. P. Ellis, Clayton 

Farmers Mercantile Co. 

'Clayton 13,200 

E. R. Gulley, Clayton __ 
W. T. Allen, Sr., Clayton, _ 
Harris & Barnes, Clayton 
Wall-Jones Mill, Clayton, 

Fletcher Price, Clayton 

Herman Vinson, Clayton __ 
Turner Vinson, Clayton _ 
V/alter Wyatt Mill, Clay- 
ton 

Jessie Tart, Dunn 

J. H. Allen, Four Oaks __ 
Varan Coats, Four Oaks__ 

J. T. Cole, Four Oaks 

G. L. Collins, Four Oaks-_ 
Sejsoms Cosley, 4 Oak.s__ 
Flowers Cotton Gin and 
Saw Mill, Four Oaksi__ 
A. B. Johnston, Four Oalcs 
E. S. Lassiter, Four Oaks__ 

Chas. Lee, Four Oaks 

Ira Lee, Four Oaks 

R. E. Lee, Four Oaks 

Nicholson Saw Mill, Four 
Oaks 

A. H. Phelps, Four Oaks_ 

J. D. Pope, Four Oaks 

Tho3. Rhodes, Four Oaks__ 
G. H. Roberts, Four Oaks 
Sanders and Smith Mfg. 

Co., Four Oa-ks 

B. Stanley, Four Oaks 

H. M. Stewart, Four Oaks 
W. E. Stewart, Four Oaks 
W. W. Stewart Co., Four 

Oaks 3,500 



1,800 


1,235 


4,580 


8 


3,560 


2,012 


5,340 


10 


1,750 


60 


2,300 


5 


7,950 


675 


3,800 


8 


7,850 


1,200 


7,560 


10 


7,750 


985 


5,740 


10 


5,650 


585 


4,900 


8 


13,200 


3,785 


17,200 


11 


10,100 


2,200 


9,800 


10 


2,500 


660 


9,200 


12 


11,500 


29,226 


30,783 


21 


8,100 


4,800 


40,750 


21 


6,000 


5,100 


1,400 


13 


3,400 


5,000 


18,750 


10 


4,500 


6,025 


23,125 


14 


3,100 


6,660 


19,500 


10 


8,600 


4,050 


22,260 


12 


1,400 


360 


2,350 


4 


1,900 


515 


2,700 


10 


3,000 


2,500 


10,500 


10 


2,000 


6,200 


17,500 


10 


3,000 


23,432 


46,150 


10 


10,000 


10,000 


2,000 


3 


4,300 


9,000 


34,000 


11 


3,950 


1,325 


8,000 


G 


3,750 


2,915 


7,900 


11 


1,800 


700 


3,500 


6 


3,750 


10,050 


28,800 


9 


5,700 


18,640 


39,360 


10 


9,850 


3,870 


20,500 


14 


3,500 


6,500 


18,750 


10 


2,600 


2,900 


8,550 


10 


3,400 


1,085 


6,380 


9 


20,400 


12,960 


48,000 


lO' 


2,800 


7,475 


13,800 


5 


5,150 


7,825 


30,400 


10 


2,800 


4,065 


13,770 


6 



2,800 



10.500 



10 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 



Josephus Wood, Four Oaks 2,300 

J. L. York, Four Oaksi-__ 1,200 

J. B. Boykin, Kenly 5,000 

Williams & Son, Kenly__ 3,000 

John T. Wrenn, McCullers 5,600 

E. O. Aycock, Micro 5,500 

Henry R. Blalock, Micro__ 4,900 

H. J. Corbitt, Micro 6,400 

J. E. & C. L. PIttman, Micro 5,300 

S. J. Hinton, Middlesex., 13,000 

W. W. Lamb, Middlesex-,. 3,900 

J. V. Narrow, Middlesex 9,250 

Thadeus Whitley, Middlesex 2,500 
W. B. Oliver & Son, Pine 

Level 4,000 

J. H. Adam, Princeton 4,000 

J. W. Baker, Grist Mill, 

Princeton 25,000 

J. C. Tart, Princeton ___ 12,200 

T. H. Atkinson, Selma 2,590 

R. A. Bailey Selma 4,150 

Luther Creech, Selma 3,000 

Troy Creech, Selma 4,330 

J. H. Godwin, Selma 2,550 

E. Grant, Selma 7,100 

Cooper Heflin, Selma 6,300 

C. S. & J. D. Hick?, Selma 7,500 

E. A. Wall Sr., Selma 5,500 

W. D. Avera, Smithfield__ 3,950 

D. T. Creech, Smithfield _ 2,800 
J. E. Creech, Smithfield __ 2,900 

E. F. Crump, Smithfield___ 5,310 
R. C. Gillett, Smithfield-- 12,000 
W. B. Hobbs, Smithfield-- 1,500 
W. S. Ragsdale, Smithfield 10,900 
John & Claude Sandersi, 

Smithfield 4,500 

J. C. Smith, Smithfield- _- 6,189 
Will D. Tomlinson, Smith- 
field 7,925 

E. E. Wallace, Smithfield.. 2,700 

Barnes Sawmill, Wendell. 6,960 

C. S. Hamrick, Wendell - 3,800 

J. T. Jones, Wendell 6,400 



1,235 


4,600 


9 


225 


3,090 


7 


2,140 


8,880 


9 


600 


4,550 


6 


900 


5,560 


8 


875 


4,250 


9 


950 


4,711 


9 


1,755 


7,240 


9 


585 


2,870 


10 


6,320 


15,300 


10 


1,215 


6,255 


7 


9.300 


30,000 


15 


110 


2,050 


5 


100 


5,000 


7 


10,300 


57,750 


10 


21,445 


28,642 


9 


7,660 


25,250 


10 


1,240 


4,935 


10 


6,100 


10,940 


10 


124 


1,880 


5 


825 


5,350 


10 


330 


3,090 


9 


3,000 


13,500 


10 


5,950 


13,550 


10 


5,400 


22,620 


11 


4,080 


24,000 


20 


1,540 


4,500 


12 


3,974 


15,660 


10 


2,600 


10,550 


10 


17,525 


85,000 


10 


12,500 


30,000 


14 


4,000 


15,400 


9 


23,100 


88,800 


23 


1,340 


5,500 


9 


17,225 


67,200 


12 


22,060 


56,800 


15 


1,040 


9,900 


13 


5,850 


18,400 


12 


2,000 


8,800 


10 


3,115 


7,650 


9 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 29 

W. D. Moody, Wendell ___ 2,625 960 7,050 8 

C. R. Stroff, Wendell 44,000 17,900 60,000 21 

B. T. Thompson, WendelL- 6,550 3,900 28,600 13 

Andrew Wise, Wendell ___ 8,500 7,805 17,400 12 

Beasley, Jasper, WendelL- 2,950 7,075 18,900 10 

Dressed and Planed 

Lumber Postoffice Capital -Value Plant Output Employees 

Wilson Mills Sash, Door 
and Supplies Factory, 
Wibon's Mills $ 45,000 $ 30,350 $ 70,100 19 

Star Mfg. Co., Benson___ 3,500 6,500 35,250 17 

Preston Woodall Planing 

Mill, Benson 9,750 42,432 58,743 9 

J. A. Vinson Planing Mill 

Clayton 25,000 100,000 210,000 8 

Carolina Handle Co., Four 

Oaks 7,000 200 3,100 7 

Pope & Tart, Four Oaks-_ 4,000 20,750 70,000 9 

Woodall Cole Mill, Four 

Oaks 2,500 840 22,000 8 

Newson Narron, Kenly___ 40,000 10,650 41,000 28 

Little River Lumber Co., 

Princeton 102,114 17,621 32,341 59 

Eenoy Planing Mill, Selma 6,000 9,445 19,610 9 

Benoy-Winston Co., Selma 22,500 15 

Swift Creek Lumber Co., 

Smithfield 102,748 3,150 29,000 19 

Grist and Flour Mills 

Post Office, Capital, Value Plant, Output, Employees 

Byrd's Mill, Benson $ 2,000 $ 6,000 $ 7,000 

Johnson's Mill, Ben9on___ 1,500 4,150 5,000 

Kings Mill, Benson 3,000 7,000 8,000 

McLambs Grist Mill, Benson 2,800 15,662 17,550 

Stewart Mill, Benson 2,000 3,500 4,000 

Blackburn Water Grist Mill, 

Bentonville _-_ 12,812 14,256 1 

Weaver Ross Grist Mill, 

Bentonsville 2,000 11,'200 12:,600 

Barbours Griat Mill, Clayton 2,500 9,984 11,232 

Ellington Grist Mill, Clay- 
ton 6,000 16,320 18,260 

Mitchell's Grist Mill, Clay- 
ton 3,000 38,470 42,406 1 



30 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Herman Vinson, Clayton 24,000 5,000 18,370 10 

Parker's Grist Mill, Dixie. 1,800 9,540 10,530 
John9on's Grist Mill, Four 

Oaks 1,600 1,624 18,370 1 

The O. G. Lassiter Mill, Four 

Oaks 2,200 6,448 7,254 

Boykins Grist Mill, Kenly_ 1,200 9,464 11,232 
Consumers Milling' Co., 

Kenly 55,000 100,000 123,857 4 

Jess Creech Grist Mill, 

Kenly 1,000 5,916 6,318 

Edward's Grisit Mill, Kenly 1,500 7,280 7,722 

Lambs Grist Mill, Middlesex 2,500 13,145 14,742 

Creech's Grist Mill, Pine 

Level 1,400 4,602 5,850 

Piedmont Milling Co., Pine 

Level 2,000 9,496 10,305 

Woodard Grist Mill, Pine 

Level 1,200 7,475 9,360 

Holt's Grist Mill, Princeton 5,000 12,656 15,187 1 

Old Atkinson's Mill, Prince- 
ton 9,000 19,200 25,920 1 

Atkinson's Grist Mill, Selma 10,000 9,170 11,680 

Blackman's Grist Mill, Selma 1,200 8,453 8,775 

'Corbefcts Grist Mill, Selma 1,500 8,453 9,594 

Hughes Grist Mill, Selma__ 750 12,085 18,810 

Richardson Grist Mill, Selma 5,500 9,984 11,187 

Wise Grist Mill, Selma ___ 1,500 14,478 15,444 

Aliens Grist Mill, Smith- 
field 1,400 6,240 7,020 

Herring Grist Mill, Smith- 
field 2,250 15,040 18,360 

MclCullers Grist Mill, Smith- 
field 2,250 7,344 8,262 

Parker's Grist Mill, Smith- 
field 1,650 19,170 20,960 

Smithfield Milling Co., 

Smithfield 26,129 66,755 71,054 4 

Smithfield Roller Mills, 

Smithfield 9,000 81,800 93,000 5 

Stanleys Grist Mill, Smith- 
field 1,200 8,320 9,360 

Woods Grist Mill, Smithfield 1,200 14,560 16,380 2 

Scotts Grist Mill, Wendell . 4,000 18,720 21,060 1 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 31 

Whitleys Grist JVlill, Wen- 
dell 1,400 9,810 10,530 

Medlins Grist Mill, Wilson's 

Mills 1,950 21,686 25,788 

Garages and Repair Shops 

Post Office, Capital, Value Plant, Output, Employees 

J. M. Britt, Benson $ 6,500 $ 2,015 $ 5,000 1 

Brannon Garage, Clayton, 8,500 3,043 9,165 3 

Clayton Motor Co., Inc., 

iClayton 25,000 6,088 22,264 7 

Home & Morris Motor Co., 

iClayton 56,000 4,782 ^16,75-8 6 

Piedmont Motor Co., Clay- 
ton 5,200 3,612 12,876 5 

Four Oaks Motor Co., Four 

Oaks 3,275 1,840 5,675 2 

Leon Ad. Jones, Four Oaks 5,000 2,130 5,765 2 

Dalton Lee Garage, . Four 

Oaks 3,400 1,500 4,250 2 

Casper Garage, Kenly 4,900 3,264 8,425 3 

E. & B. Motor Co., Kenly_ 15,000 7,376 20,800 8 

Holland & Co., Kenly 2,750 4,778 13,473 4 

Hatcher Garage, Micro __ 8,750 3,266 12,340 4 

Parker Mfg. Co., Middlesex 4,450 4,140 9,910 3 

Princeton Motor Co., Inc. 

Princeton 11,400 10,780 23,750 6 

Edgerton & Jeffreys Garage, 

Selma ^-- 2,500 4,546 13,757 3 

Green Mfg. Co., Selma___ 10,000 2,485 8,200 3 

Hughes Machine and Repair 

Shop, Selma 2,625 970 5,125 3 

Pearce Auto Co., Selma___ 1,825 1,343 10,450 6 

Selma Motor Co., Selma-- 2,700 1,236 10,976 4 

Taylor & Hughes Garage 

Selma 7,800 1,408 21,675 8 

Holland Garage, Smithfield 8,800 11,740 21,896 5 

Kirkmans Service Co., 

Smithfield 21,800 1,423 16,270 5 

Sanders Motor Co., Smith- 
field 244,600 91,698 144,234 19 

Scotton Motor Co., Smith- 
field 140,000 10,425 51,870 16 

Vinson-Wade Motor Co., 

Wihon's Mills 4,000 3,512 16,860 3 



32 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Miscellaneous Post Office, Capital, Value Plant, Output Employees 

Barnes Casket Co., Clayton_$ 8,000 $ 6,330 $ 14,400 4 

Ashley Home & Son, mix- 
ing fertilizer, Clayton___ 57,000 39,080 100,000 18 

Pine Level Oil Mill, Pine 

Level 159,717 261,721 551,531 55 

W. M. Brannan Metal Co., 

Selma 2,350 4,860 7,200 2 

Johnstonian Pub. Co., Inc., 

Selma 8,125 1,736 8,517 3 

Navasco Guano Co., Selma 200,000 1,065,453 57 

Havo-Kola Bottling Co., 

• Selma 6,141 9,430 21,624 5 

Southern Cotton Oil Co., 

Selma 77,396 317,198 415,931 35 

Wood Ice Co., Selma 17,375 2,900 12,000 1 

D. H. Creech Chemical Co., 

Smithfield 680 1,2-21 2,403 1 

Export Leaf Tobacco Co., 

iSmitMeld 967 2,594 3,039 1 

Hood Bros, Smithfield 500 5 

Sanders-Beasley Brick Co., 

Smithfield 14,000 1,275 21,120 17 

Smithfield Herald, Smith- 
field 11,500 4,456 18,398 9 

Textiles Capital, Spindles, Output, Employees 

Clayton 

Clayton Cotton Mills $480,723 $ 10,240 $553,522 126 

Liberty Cotton Mills 322,845 5,100 377,833 78 

Selma 

Ethel Cotton Mills 319,376 8,100 310,339 72 

Lizzie Cotton Mills 368,538 10,480 302,127 68 

Selma Cotton Mills 606,950 10,560 650,127 87- 

Smithfield 

Ivanhoe Mfg. Co. 256,532 22,322 1,125,000 113 

$4,695,301 $66,802 $18,866,284 2516 



Ill 

FACTS ABOUT THE FOLKS OF JOHNSTON 
COUNTY 



G. Y. RAQSDALE 

Smithtfield, N. C. 

This chapter is based mainly upon the 1920 census and a few 
other authoritative reports. The figures refer to the year 1920 
unless specified. The chapter closes with a table of facts about 
the folks, ranking Johnston with other counties, and with the 
state average. The rank indicates the number of counties mak- 
ing a better showing than Johnston. 

Size and Population 

Johnston county is the eighth largest county in the state, with 
a total area of over half a million acres, nearly three-fourhs of 
which was in farms according to the last census. This area rep- 
resents exactly 807 square miles. Robeson, the largest county 
in the state, has an area of 990 square miles. 

The increase in population during the last ten years has been 
very noticeable, amounting to 7,597, with over three-fourths of 
the increase white. 

During this ten-year period the negro ratio of population de- 
creased exactly one percent. The increase of negro farm op- 
erators was smaller than in any county in the combination cot- 
ton and tobacco belt. Eighty-one percent of the farms of John- 
ston are cultivated by white farmers. This is the highest rate to 
be found in the eastern half of North Carolina except Dare and 
Carteret down on the coast. The small increase in negro popu- 
lation can be attributed to the low negro population ratio of the 
county, and to a comparatively low migration of negroes into 
Johnston from other counties during the period. 

The £'mall number of negro inhabitants is one of the significant 
facts exhibited in the table below. A large number of these 
negroes serve the county only in the capacity of day laborers on 
farms or in the towns. That the number of negroes in the coun- 
ty is lov/ is doubtless a great blessing to the county, for there 
is no doubt but that this backward and uneducated race is a det- 
riment to any community or society when they are found in large 
numbers. Professor Collier Cobb has aptly said that the black 



34 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

man has seldom accomplished anything except under the leadei-- 
ship of the white man. Yet, one cannot afford to say too much 
against the negi'o population of Johnston. They are undoubtedly 
useful to us, in that they serve as our labor in both agriculture 
and industry, and, they are on the whole well behaved and law- 
abiding. It i£? doubtful if there are better-behaved or better 
negroes in the state than those in Johnston. As a rule they are 
law-abiding, industrious and thrifty. Whites an,d blacks in 
Johnston get along together remarkably peacefully. 

A Farming People 

While over half the counties of the state have more people liv- 
ing on farms tha^n we have, over four-ififths of our people live in 
the rural districts. In this respect v/e are above the state av- 
erage by more than ten percent. In Johnston nearly five out of 
every six people live in the open country. In North Carolina 
seven out of every ten are country dwellers. Three counties 
hav no incorporated towns. We are almost wholly an agricul- 
tural people, digging our living out of the soil, contributing enor- 
mou3 totals of agricultural wealth yearly, and building up a sturdy 
race amongst wholesome surroundings. The county is, as a re- 
sult, densely populated, an average of more than fifty country 
people living on every square mile of our territory, or one per- 
son on every 13 acres for the entire county. We have no large 
towns and the population is well scattered over the county. 

Here it may be said that only one township in the county lost 
population during the ten-year period from 1910 to 1920, and 
that one wa:t Beulah, on the northern edge of the county, in 
which tc""r,;^hip the town of Kenly is situated. This township 
lost nearly 500 people, while Sniithfield township had the greatest 
gain, increasing nearly 2,000. The farms increased 1,004 in num- 
ber and the country population increased more than 5,000. Few 
counties can compare with our9 aa a thriving agricultural com- 
munity. 

Illiteracy 

Here is where we are forced to hang our heads in shame. In 
65 counties the white males of 21 years of age and older are bet- 
ter educated than in Johnston. That is, a larger per cent of them 
can read and write. About 13 out of every 100 of our white 
adult males are unable to read or write, and in this respect we 
are below the state average. The white females of this age-group 
are better educated in 73 counties of the state than in Johnston, 
while 41 counties have better records for literateD among both 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 35 

races ten years of age and older. Sixty-eight counties make a 
better showing in native white literates over nine years of age. 
Our negroes make a better showing, since only 25 counties in 
the state better our rank in negro literacy 10 years of age and 
older. Johnston county needs more schools, better schools, better 
equipped schools, and more teachers, better educated and more 
experienced. And in addition we need proper educational fa- 
cilities for our adult males and females, so that they can live a 
happier and fuller life. 

Low Church Membership 

While one county in the state has three out of four of its in- 
habitants ten years of age and over belonging to some church, 
less than one in three are afRliatad with any church in Johnston. 
There are only 18 counties in the s'tate that have a lower church 
membership ratio. We are much below the state average, which 
is only 45 out of the hundred. The churches have been making 
a hard, uphill fight to retain their own, especially in rural areas. 
Farm tenancy and illiteracy are two serious obstacles to church 
progress. The fault is largely with the churches in failing to see 
that correcting these evils is a proper church endeavor. Serving 
humanity is the best means of serving God. We believe that 
church membership in Johnston will increase to any remarkable 
degree only when the churches of the county realize that serving 
man in his daily work and need9 is properly the church's concern, 
and that through the effort of the religious organizations the 
problems of tenancy and illiteracy can be remedied. The churches, 
we believe, should try to solve social and economic ills. The 
church should be the strongest community unit, and the larger 
the number within the church, the more effective its work will be. 

High Death Rate 

Johnston county has too high a death rate. Only 37 counties 
had a higher rate in 1917. In that year 13.6 people out of every 
1,000 in the county died, and this rate has varied very little be- 
fore or since that time. 

This proves that there is too much sickness, a great deal of 
which could be remedied. The negroes cannot be blamed for 
this high rate, for there are not enough of them to affect our 
average very much. The health authoritiesi could do a great 
work in Johnston by effecting a great clean-up of homes, mills, 
towns, swamps, and all stagnant places breeding filth and disease. 
There are a great number of deaths among babies under one year 
of age, showing that the mothers do not know how to take care 



36 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

of their newly-born babies, and that some kind of work should be 
done to instruct them how to care for themselves and their chil- 
dren, and also to aid and care for expectant mothers during the 
time prior to the birth of the baby. There is a great waste of 
humanity through ignorance, which kills more people than wars. 

Birth Rate High 

In Johnston county in 1917 (and this may be taken as a typi- 
cal year), 35.7 children were born to every 1,000 inhabitant?. 
Only twenty-one of the 100 North Carolina counties make a bet- 
ter showing. We do not need a higher birth rate, but we do need 
better care for those born. This state leads the Union in birth 
rate and Johnston ranks high in the state. There is no race sui- 
cide in Johnson, but much carelessness and ignorance about 
health matters. 

Too Many Murders 

North Carolina leads the world in homicide rates. It is a mat- 
ter of general knowledge that killings are frequent in Johnston. 
In 1914, however, we were on fairly good behavior, and only 26 
counties had a smaller homicide rate. Between 1910 and 1914 
ten murders were reported in Johnston, while in one county 45 
were reported and in another 36. Killings are too frequent. 
There are counties in this state where more people were killed 
in one year than the whole of England in a decade. We must be 
brought to a realization that courts are the proper channels 
through which to settle disputes. 

Divorces 

Even though we have murders, we are not a warlike people. Not 
counting South Carolina and the District of Columbia, Nonth 
Carolina haa the smallest number of divorces of any state in 
the Union. Johnston ranked 64th among the counties of North 
Carolina in this respect in 1916; the courts in that year granted 
divorces at the rate of 21.1 per 100,00 people. We have an ag- 
ricultural population, and our men and women, being econom- 
ically dependent, are not so prone to separate over trivial mat- 
ters as people in city areas where the husband and wife may 
be independent of each other. Moreover, in our state divorce 
lawa are more stringent than in most states. 

Facts About the Folks of Johnston County 

Rank indicates the number of counties making a better showing. 
8th in population, 1920 48,998 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 37 

32nd in population increase 1910 to 1920, per cent__ 18.3 

Forsyth led with a 63.3 per cent gain. State 
gain 15.9 per cent. 
55th in population living in open country, per cent-_ 82.7 

State average 71.4 percent in the open country. 
New Hanover has only 16.8 percent rural. Three 
counties have no incorporated towns. 

13th in townships losing population, per cent 5.9 

Only one township in Johnston lost population. 
State average 32 percent, 308 losing. Nearly 
one in every three in the state lost. 10 coun- 
ties lost none. 

18th in rural population density per square mile 50.2 

State average 37.3 people per square mile. 
Forsyth led the state with 73.5 country people 
per square mile. 
66th in white male illiteracy, 21 years of age and over, 

per cent 12.9 

State average 10.95 percent. New Hanover only 
1.7 percent. 
74th in white females illiteracy, 21 years old and older, 

percent 13.2 

State axerage 10.4 percent. New Hanover only 
3.1 percent. 
42nd in illiteracy white and black 10 years of age 

and older, percent 12.4 

State average 13.1 percent. Buncombe leads with 
only 6.4 percent. 
69th in native white illiterates, 10 years old and over 

percent 9.5 

State average 8.2 percent. New Hanover only 1.8 
percent. 
26th in negro illiterates 10 years of age and older, 

percent 21.7 

State average 24.5 percent. Pamlico 11.3 percent. 

44th in race ratios, percent white 76.4 

State average 69.74 percent white. Mitchell 99.5 
percent. 

74th in white ratio gain 1910 to 1920 percent 1.0 

State average white ratio increase 1.7 percent. 
Vance 6.9 percent gain. 



38 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

82nd in church membership, 10 years of age and older, 

for both race?, percent 32.00 

State average 45 percent. Bertie leads with 74 
percent. 

22nd in births per 1,000 population, 1917 rate 35.7 

Yancey 45; Currituck 19.2. 

63rd in deaths per 1,000 population, 1917 rate 13.6 

Cherokee 6.7; Wayne 20.6. 
27th in homicides per million inhabitants, 1913-1914 

raite , 60 

Total in 4 years, 10. State average 95 homicides 
'per million inhabitants. This is the highest rate 
found among Englisih-speaking people. 
64th in divorces per 100,000 inhabitants, 1916 rate__ 21.1 

North Carolina has the lowest divorce rate (31) 
except South Carolina, where divorces are not 
given. Alexander 0; Transylvania 119.2 di- 
vorces per 100,000 population. 



IV. 
WEALTH AND TAXATION IN JOHNSTON COUNTY 



G. Y. RAGSDALE 

Smith'field, N. C. 

According to the report of the State Tax Commission there 
are only fourteen counties in North iGarolina which have more 
taxable property than Johnston county. Thi3 is remarkable, due 
to the fact that there are no great industries in the county. 
Take away from us the agricultural wealth, the farming people, 
and the farming animals, and we would be a pauper county. For- 
syth has the largest amount of taxable property of any county in 
the state and in 1921 s.he had nearly one hundred million dollars 
more taxables than Johnston. Forsyth, however, is largely an 
industrial county, with some establishments that rank first in 
size in their line in the world. 

Farm property in Johnston in 1920 had a census value of 
$40,740,814, which includes farm building.9, implements, machin- 
ery and live stock. Not all this property was on the tax books, 
but the great bulk of our taxable wealth consists of farm 
properties. 

In 1921 our wealth on the tax books amounted to $862 per 
capita while the per capita wealth of the state was $1,007. John- 
ston rankD below the state average because she is almost entire- 
ly agricultural, with few big manufacturing plants to swell the 
tax list. Farm property is seldom listed at what it will acutally 
bring on the market. Our real wealth per person is somewhat 
above $862. 

Negro Taxable Property 

In negro taxable property we rank fairly high. There are 
only 18 counties in the state with more negro taxables than 
Johnston. Negroes in Johnston own only one and one half mil- 
lion dollars worth of taxable property, while Forsyth negroes 
possess over twice this amount. The vast majority of the ne- 
gro population in Johnston is of the laboring class. 

Farm Tenancy 

Of all the farmD operated in Johnston, 51.2 per cent are op- 
erated by tenants, 141,953 acres being operated by them, while 
252,458 acres were operated by owners. This means that we 



40 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

practice tenancy to a very high degree. A3 long as this con- 
dition continues, we can never hope to be a county with great 
wealth per capita, or with the best civic, social, or economic 
conditions. These are the things that make a people. There 
are 3,597 farmers practicing five different kinds of tenancy. 
These kinds of tenancy are on the following basis: Shares, crop- 
pers, share-cash tenants, cash tenants and standing renters. 
The greater number of these, 2,059 in all, operate on a share 
basis, while 733 are croppers, 396 cash tenants, 351 standing 
renters and 56 are share-cash tenants, and two farmers did not 
specify the kind of tenancy practiced. 

Be it borne in mind that so long as we are a land of tenants, 
so long will our standards of living be low and our educational 
and religious progress be hampered. Half of our tenants move 
yearly and thus are a hindrance to social development. The 
system under which they produce crops precludes the possibility 
of wealth accumulation. It is too costly. With the advent of 
cooperative marketing, and with the decrease in acreage of mo- 
ney crops and with increased attention to food products, the 
condition of these tenants may be bettered, and as a result they 
will have their first chance to save a part of the wealth they 
produce and in time purchase a farm of their own. 

.\ Medium Tax Rate 

The 1921 tax rate on the $100 worth of taxable property in 
Johnston county is only 82 cents. Alleghany pays the lowest 
rate in the state, it being only 41 cents, while Caswell county 
pays $1.61, which is the highest rate in the state. This goes to 
show that we, paying only half as high a rate as Caswell and a 
lower rate than in 59 other counties, could bear more taxation 
than we do. Our poll tax is $2.46, with only 16 counties paying 
a higher rate than Johnston. 

The tax value of land in 1920 was $65.30, which is just a 
little more than half as much as the tax value of land in our 
sister county of Wilson. However, it is $26 above the state av- 
erage. The lowness of our tax value of land is due to our large 
areas of wooded: land and some swamp land, and not to the 
sterility of the soil, which is in reality quite fertile. Land has 
been sold in large tracts within the last five years for over $250 
an acre. To give some idea of the fertility of the land, we may 
note that the crop values in 1920 were nearly 20 millions of 
dollars, and this although advanced methods of farming are not 
generally employed by the farmers. Before the land was re- 
valued in 1919 the tax value of land was only $10.50 per acre. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 41 

Certainly there was room for revaluation, not only in Johnston 
but in every county in North Carolina. The slump that came 
after the revaluation was made left many properties with too 
high values on the tax books, but readjustments have been 
made and today property in this i'tate is on the tax books at 
something like a fair rate. This was never the case before. For- 
mei'ly the assessed value depended on the disposition of the 
owner. Today it approaches the true value of the land. 

Farm Wealth 

We had a great increase in farm wealth from 1910 to 1920, 
the total increase amounting to 197.5 per cent. The soils of the 
county are being so treated as to gain in richness, and as a re- 
sult land value? are increasing yearly. Our rapidly growing 
population means rapidly increasing land values. Population 
growth is the greatest factor in land value increase. Another 
primary factor is the ability of the soil to produce wealth. 
We ranked third in this state in the production of agricultural 
wealth, which includes crop.j and livestock with $20,647,000. Of 
the 3,000 counties in the United States, Johnston ranks among 
the 50 highest in the production of crop values. The production 
of agricultural wealth per farm in the county was nearly three 
thousand dollars, which is exceedingly high, and very gratifying. 
It was nearly a thousand dollars higher than the state average. 
But remember that it also co^ts more to produce cotton and 
tobacco than other crops. 

In 1920 the average farm wealth per country inhabitant was 
$1,004 showing an increase of more than 200 per cent over a 
period of ten years, while the state average increase was only 
112 per cent. Thus the gain in farm wealth per country in- 
habitant was nearly twice the average gain for the state as a 
whole. Much of thij was due to the high prices for farm pro- 
ducts during the recent war, and to the consequent rise in the 
value of our cotton and tobacco soils. Yet, even with this 
gratifying gain, eighteen counties gained more in farm wealth 
per country inhabitant than we did, the county making the most 
notable gain being itt. This is not at all in accord with our 
ability to produce agricultural wealth, for in that we command 
third place. But Pitt is our leading tobacco county and to- 
bacco land is worth more than cotton land, or so in 1919 when 
tobacco was selling at fabulous prices. The gain in real estate 
tax values over this same ten-year period was over 500 per cent, 
while Hyde county real estate tax values increased over 1,000 
per cent. This is pleasing when the gains of some other counties 



42 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

of the state are considered. Cherokee county, for instance, in- 
creased their real estate tax values only 58 per cent. Most moun- 
tain counties are very reluctant to put their property down at 
its true value. 

Savings 

The bank account savings in the county in the year 1918 
were only $9 per person, or just half the state average, while 
the per capita savings of New Hanover county were $110. In 
that year the entire population of the county had only a little 
less than half a million dollars deposited on savings accounts in 
the banks of the county. The checking accounts were much 
larger, of course, but this form of banking is ever subject to 
change, due to varying fortunes, and is, therefore, not the best 
means of saving. Our people, we regret to say, are not looking 
"ujo the future; they are living from hand to mouth; they are 
.leither looking forward to nor providing for a rainy day. There 
were 63 counties ahead of us in bank account savings in 1918, 
but not 63 ahead of us in wealth production! The smallest Eu- 
ropean countries have immensely larger savings per capita than 
Johnston county people. Denmark, for instance, has nearly 19 
times more per capita. A savings account is one of the most ex- 
cellent ways for a poor man to increase his wealth. Most of the 
banks have savings departments, and most of them compound 
the interest quarterly, causing a reasonably rapid increase in 
the amount invested. 

Automobiles and Schools in 1920 

In the per capita investments in schools and automobiles there 
is a decided contrast, for in the former we lag, and in the latter 
we lead. There are over 50 counties which have a higher per 
capita investment in schools than we have, ours being only $7. 
On the other hand, only 11 counties have more invested per 
capita in automobiles than Johnston, our investment being $71 
per person. It is appalling that Johnston county should have 
ten times more invested in motor vehicles than it has in schools. 
We ride and travel more than we read and think. The invest- 
ment in automobiles is far above the state average, while the 
investments in schools is far below it. 

Other Tax Facts 

In 1918 Johnston paid $10,196 more into the state treasury 
in school funds and pension moneys than it received back. I.i 
other words, we paid more for the equalization fund than we 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 43 

received. But it muFt be remembered at this point that there 
are many counties in the state which are not so favored with 
nature's blessings as is Johnston, and that we should, by all 
rights, help to defray the expenses of these less fortunate coun- 
ties. The cause is a worthy one: our children must be educated, 
and our aged and infirm heroes of the South must be cared for 
in their declining years. The growing children must be trained 
in their youth, for in later years they are to step into the har- 
ness now being vacated by those growing old. They will be 
the future builders of our state. And even while they are 
springing into manhood and womanhood, we must care for those 
who have played the game and built up this our state. 

There are thirty-three counties which received more in re- 
turn for these two causes than they paid into the state treas- 
ury. They are mostly mountain and tidewater counties, not 
having the natural resources that we possess. 

Nineteen counties paid more in professional taxes than did 
Johnston. These men, doctors, dentists, lawyers, pharmacists, 
etc., paid over three hundred dollars into the treasury. Twenty- 
two counties paid more state income tax than did we. Our 
total tax paid under this heading to the state was $1,679. The 
income tax paid into the Federal Treasury was several times 
more than this. 

The average township road tax rate for all townships is 27 
cents on the $100 worth of property. The county school tax 
rate is 60 cents on the hundred dollars, 10 cents on the hun- 
dred for court house bonds, and the county tax is 12 cents. 
There are 150 school districts in the county carrying a special 
school tax. 

In natural resources, in wealth, and in the ability to produce 
wealth Johnston ranks among the foremost counties of the 
state. In our willingness to convert out wealth into welfare, to 
invest in schools, churches, and other community interests, 
there is room for improvement. We must think of taxes 
in terms of community improvements, as investments in com- 
munity welfare. 

Sources of Information 

U. S. Census reports. 
State tax reports. 

Files of the Department of Rural Social Economics, University 
of North Carolina, 



44 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Facts About Wealth and Taxation in Johnston 

15th in total taxable property, 1921 $ 42,272,227 

Forsyth first with $141,899,000 in 1921. 
Johnston had $62,776,640 on the tax books in 

1920. 
The reduction in 1921 from 1920 values was 
33 percent. 

19th in negro taxable property, 1921 $ 1,702,857 

Forsyth first with $4,121,000. 

40th in tax rate per $100 of taxables, 1921 .82 

Alleghany lowest with a rate of $.41. Caswell 
highestw ith $1.61. Thirty nine counties 
have a lower rate than Johnston. 

12th in tax value of land per acre, 1920 65.30 

In 1919 before revaluation it was on the tax 

books at $10.57 per acre. 
State average $38.94 in 1920. 
Wilson highest in 1920 with her land on the 
tax books at $113.17 per acre. 
15th in ten-year increa.='e in farm wealth, 1910 I; 

120, percent 197.5 

Green highest with 310 percent. 
State average 134.5 percent. 
3rd in total production of agricultural wealth, 

1920 20,646,863 

Robeson first with $24,045,294. 
13th in production of agricultural wealth per farm 

work 2,939 

Scotland first with $5,022. 
State average $2,104. 
10th in farm wealth per country inhabitant, 1920__ 1,004 

Wayne first with $1,497. 
State average $684. 
19th in ten-year increase in farm wealth per country 

inhabitant, 1910 to 1920, percent 204. 

State average increase, 112 percent. 
Pitt, 335 percent. 
15th in increase in real estate tax values, 1910 to 

1920, percent 586. 

Hyde, 1.098 percent. 

Cherokee only 58 percent, or so by the showing 
of the tax books for those years. 
64th in bank account savings per capita, 1918 9. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 45 

State average $17.86 in 1918. 
New Hanover $110 per capita in savings banks. 
The people of Johnston had $457,592 in sav- 
ings banks in 1918. 
12th in per capita investment in automobiles, 1920 71. 

Scotland iirst with $107. State average $54. 
56th in per capita investment in school property, 

1920 $7. 

State average $9. Transylvania $24. 
23rd in surplus paid into State treasury in excess of 
school funds and pension money received 

back in 1918 10,196 

Durham paid in $66,590 more than she receiv- 
ed back. Thirty-three counties got back 
more than they paid in. They are mainly 
mountain and tidewater counties. 

20th in professional taxes paid in 1919 315. 

Johnston had 63 professionel men, lawyers, 
doctors, dentists, pharmacists, etc. 

24th in state income tax paid in 1919 1,679 

Mecklenburg first with $24,120. 



V. 

SIX-YEAR GAINS IN WHITE SCHOOLS IN JOHN- 
STON 1914-15 TO 1920-21 



G. Y. RAGSDALE 

Smithfield, N. C. 

At the beginning of this chapter, I wish to make my posi- 
tion on education clear. I am in favor of a good education 
for every child in Johnston county, no matter what may be the 
cost. After the garmmar grades and high schools, I want to 
see as many go to college as possible. If we will provide fa- 
cilities sufficient to give these children a sound and thorough 
high school education, if they are so desirous they can com- 
plete their education at college because of the many advant- 
.ages offered students in college to work their way through. 

But first, we must lay a good foundation for them back home, 
in the towns and in the country. To do this best it is going 
to require much money, better teachers, better buildings and 
good equipment, and most important of all, more and bigger 
consolidated schools. We realize that there are forces in the 
county deeply opposed to the latter. When the advocators of 
the opposition realize that more large, well-equipped buildings 
we get, and the more good teachera we get, the more Johnston 
county will floupish, perhaps they will change their views. But 
it is a fact that they remain to be shown. 

Consolidation of Schools 

Very few of our schools have been consolidated into real 
school plants. Those that have been united are experiencing 
great succe?s. When a few schools are consolidated into one 
large school, it means more and better teachers per school, 
more pupils, better classification, more life, and much better 
equipment. These little one-teacher and two-teacher, poorly 
equipped, schools scattered here and there all over the county, 
are scarcely worth their upkeep. Think of the accomplish- 
ments of a one-teacher school, jammed to the doors with fifty 
pupils, seven grades, the teacher's time being divided equally 
among them. What can we ever expect to accomplish with con- 
ditions of this kind existing all over the county? Teachers for 
such schools are generally raw recruits from grammar grades. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 47 

teaching on pitifully low salaries. It is almost unbelievable that 
in 1919, 71 of our 90 white schools in the county were taught 
by one and two teachers. Rural schools based on such a system 
can be little more than miserable failures. What Johnston needs 
is to abolish these weak one-teacher and two-teacher schools 
and to establish a consolidated system of schools of real merit, 
which will be of real value to the county. We need real educa- 
tional centers, not little recitation centers having little or no 
life or influence. 

Thanks to the untiring efforts of our former Superintendent 
of Rural Schools, Mr. W. H. Hipps, much was accomplished to- 
wards consolidation. In addition to the schools consolidated 
during his administration, he laid a good foundation for fu- 
ture consolidation. Today we have several trucks carrying 
children to good schools, to be taught by good teachers, in well- 
equipped school buildings. 

Attendance 

In 1917-18 we 'ranked 49th in white school attendance on 
enrollment. One-third of the children enrolled were absent 
every school day. In 1921 our white rural school population was 
11,357 and enrollment 12,201. Ninety and eight-tenths per- 
cent of the white children of school ages were enrolled, of which 
6,554 were in daily attendance, or 63.6 percent of those en- 
rolled. This means that last year only 49 per cent of our 
children who should be in school were in daily attendance! Too 
many children of school age are not enrolled and school at- 
tendance of those enrolled is miserably poor in a county with 
compulsory attendance. There is a state law making school at- 
tendance compulsory. The law does not seem to be function- 
ing well in Johnston. It is the fault of parents partly, and the 
result of weak small schools that offer no attraction to live 
children. 

What Absences Mean 

In this brief discussion, it is impossible for us to treat this 
matter at length. Below we will briefly stated the facts of the 
case, and leave the rest to the intelligence of the readers. 

1. The child that is allowed to be absent from school when 
he could possibly be there is establishing a bad habit from which 
he will suffer all his life long. 

2. The constant absentee nearly always gets out of gear 
with the school, falls behind in his classej, loses interest and 
then drops out to repeat the same thing the next year . 



48 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

3. Absentees retard the progress of the class. This means 
that those who attend regularly suffer because of the absence 
of the others. For this reason every parent interested in his 
child's welfare should do what he can to encourage regular at- 
tendance on the part of his neighbor's children. 

4. Absentees greatly increase the taxpayer's burden, and 
becomes a tremendous financial loss to the child himslfe. 

The burden is with the parents, and it is their duty to improve 
this condition, and help their children, themselves, and their 
county. 

Teachers 

Without the vitalizing touch of well prepared teachers, school- 
houses, playground:?, and schoolrooms are dead, soulless me- 
chanisms. Life, spirit, vitality, all are the product of wide- 
awake teachers. Better schools are impossible without teachers 
of this calibre, and such teachers can be employed only when 
good, substantial salaries are paid. Rural teachers are often 
■paid mere pittances because they are not expected to be well 
prepared to teach in small schools! In 1920-21 Johnston paid 
her white rural teachers an average yearly salary of $661. But 
town teachers get an average of $1,519 each. The rural salary 
was a great impovement over 1915 when we paid them an av- 
erage annual salay of $235. Getting enough money to pay 
teachers decent salaries is a difficult task. They have never 
been paid decent salaries, especially rural teachers, and the 
quality of teachers •^'■o employ depands upon what we pay them. 
And $661 a year will neither attract nor retain trained- and ef- 
ficient teachers. 

Belter Prepared Teachers 

The six year increase in the number of our white rural teach- 
ers was 31 percent, whereas our school population increased only 
5.2 percent. This was an improvement in that the number of 
pupils per teacher was lessened. On the other hand, the num- 
ber of teachers with four years' experience increased 58 in num- 
ber but the number of rural teachers with college diplomas 
remained the same up to 1920. We need more college and 
university trained teachers. But the county superintendent 
cannot employ well-educated teachers without paying them good 
salaries, and he could not afford that, due to increased numbers 
required to teach the increased numbers of pupils, with a lim- 
ited salary fund. We have got to pay teachers more money, 
because teachers go where the best salaries are paid. Our pres- 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 49 

ent day educational policies of Jonston must be improved. We 
musit vote more school taxes, build more consolidated schools, 
and employ better prepared teachers, or else we v/ill continue to 
live in darkness. 

Need of More Special Taxes 

Although we are above the state average of 25 percent of 
school districts having specfTal school taxes, we are far behind 
Dare county, which leads the state with 90 percent. Whenever 
the word taxes is raised in Johnston count, a howl of disapprov- 
al goes up immediately. We realize, although neither of the 
authors of this bulletin is a tax-payer, that taxes are burdensome, 
especially since the World War. But we are unable to see 
why people refuse to vote taxes when the more they vote the 
more benefits they will reap in the end. We must think of taxes 
as community investments. We realize that you may not live 
to see the greater part of the benefits, but how can you neglect 
the welfare of your children to the extent of denying them a 
decent education? How many dollars do you spend per year 
in taxes on the education of one of your sons? Compare the 
amount to $500, the average cost per scholastic year of one of 
your sons in college. There is really only one way out and that 
way is to unite our 93 white school districts into about 20 
districts, build large, well-equipped buildings, employ well- 
trained teachers, transport the pupils in school buses. Then 
Johnston will have the best school system in North Carolina. 

City Schools 

The schools in Smithfield, Benson, Selma and Clayton are well 
worthy of mention. These schools are housed in modern, well- 
equipped buildings, and the pupils attending them are taught 
by the very best of teachers. Few schools anywhere in the 
state are better. We are justly proud of them. The school 
problem in Johnston lies not in her town schools but in her 
rural schools. The country children deserve just as good school 
advantages as city children, but they are denied an equal chance 
and it is not fair to them.. They have to enter life's race handi- 
capped at the start. Let us see that the country children in the 
great agricultural county of Johnston have an equal chance 
with the children who attend town schools. 

A Few Rural and Urban School Contrasts 

The authors of this bulletin have little fault to find with the 
three white town schools in Johnston. The schools at Clayton, 



50 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Selma and Smithfield are as good as are to be found in towns 
of equal size and wealth in the state. But the schools in the 
rui'al districts of Johnston are not what they ought to be, nor 
do they begin to compare in value and effectiveness with the 
three town schools. The rural children of Johnston are due 
just as good school advantages as are the town children. That 
they do not have such schools is not due to our inability to 
produce wealth. We rank among the first fifty counties of the 
entire nation in the annual production of crop values. John- 
ston 13 a great big rich county as riches are measured in this 
state and our rural school problems are easier to solve because 
85 percent of our people are white. We present below a few 
items contrasting rural and urban white schools in Johnston. 
Shall the rural people continue to deny their children equal op- 
portunities with the town children in Johnston? The following 
facts are for the year 1921: 

Rural Urban 

Number of \vhite school houses 94 3 

Value of school hnuses $J31,287 $265,000 

White school enrollment 10,311 1,890 

School expenditures $289,233 $128,085 

Expenditures per child enrolled $ 28.5 $ 67.7 

Spent on white teachers $150,768 $ 88,093 

Average white teacher salary $ 661 $ 1,519 

Number white teachers 228 58 

Teachers with college diplomas 18 28 

Average enrolled children per teacher 45.2 32.6 

The above are just a few of many significant contrasts that 
could be made. The more they are studied the more significance 
they reveal. A few startling facts are as follows: The three 
white town school houses enrolling 1,890 children are worth 
twice as much as the 94 whiLe rural school houses enrolling 
10,311 children! The investment in school property per child 
enrolled is $12.70 per rural child and $140 per tov/n child, or 
11 times as much for each town child enrolled. 

There is an average of $28.5 spent on each rural child enrolled 
while for each town child it is $67.7. 

The teachers who teach town children are far better prepared 
than rural teachers, largely because the towns pay an average 
salary of $1,519, while in the rural schools they get an average 
salary of only $661. Twenty-eight of the 58 town teachers have 
college diplomas, while only 18 of the 228 rural teachers have 
had the same training. The teacher is the main factor in any 
school. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 51 

A very significant factor in school work is the time a teacher 
can give to each .child. The number of children enrolled per 
town teacher is 32.6, while there is an average of 45.2 enrolled 
children for each country teacher. In 19 of the schools there is 
only one teacher and she teaches all comers for a total of seven 
grades daily, giving about ten minutes to each class. 

And what is the answer to the present rural school situation? 
The answer is found in converting the 93 rural schools into 
15 or 20 centrally located big rural schools and transporting 
the children in motor buses. We do not advocate a complete 
change in a year but a gradual change extended over a half 
dozen years. The program should be worked out and gradually 
carried through. Then the rural children in the great agricul- 
tural county of Johnston will be able to begin life equally as 
well trained as the town children. It is nothing but right and 
just, and the peope of Johnston are rich enough and big enough 
to take care of our needs. 

Rank of Johnston in (School Matters 

57th in per capital school expenditures, 1919-20 $ 4.70 

Durham county led with $11.24. State average 
$5.44. 

75th in school expenditures per $1,000 taxable prop- 
erty, 1919-20 3.68 

Pamlico leads with $8.55. State average $4.41. 
50th in average value rural white school property, 

1919-20 1,199.00 

We had 95 white rural school houses valued at 
$113,987. Washington leads with 20 schools 
valued $150,000, averaging $7,500 each in 
value. 

59th in local school tax rate per $1,000, taxables, 

1917-18 5.01 

Scotland leads with $7.44. State average $5.10 
22nd in local school tax districts, 1919-20, percent 37 

Dare led with 90 percent. State average 25 
percent. 
12th in school fund raised by rural local tax, 1919- 

20 21,000.00 

34th in ten-year gains in local tax districts, 1910-20, 

percent 11.3 

Chowan led with 27.9 percent. State average 
6.7 percent. 



52 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

9th in white rural schools having two or more white 

teachers, 1917-18, percent G7.4 

Wake led with 81.8 percent. In 1919, 80 per- 
cent had two or more teachers. In 1914-15, 
45.4 percent had two or more teachers. In 
1921, 80 percent of the white rural schools 
had two or more teachers. 
49th in white school attendance on enrollment, 

1917-18, percent daily attendance 65.6 

Washington led with 91.8 percent. The white 
school attendance on enrollment in 1920-21 
was 65.6 percent. One-third, or 4,180, on the 
enrolled white children were absent each day. 
14th in white school population in average daily at- 
tendance, 1918-19, percent 56.1 

In 1920-21 it was 59.9 percent. 
38th in school expenditures per $1,000 taxable prop- 
erty in 1917-18, rate 8.14 

Buncombe led with $14.41. 
2l3t in investment in rural school property, 

1918-19 122,953.00 

Buncombe led with $455,250. In 1921 the white 

rural school property was valued at $131,287. 

28th in expenditures on rural school buildings and 

supplies, 1918-19 7,577.00 

Buncombe led with $56,632. 
60th in Rural white schools having patent desks, 

1918, percent 75 

Cumberland led with 100 percent. 
In 1920-21 there were 31 w^hite schools with 
home-made desks, o.r 33.7 percent of all white 
schools. 
References: 1920 census; 1917-18 report of Superintendent of 
Public Instruction; Rural Social Science Files, University of 
North Carolina; correspondence with Johnston County Super- 
intendent of Schools and State Superintendent of Schools. 

Six- Year Gains in Johnston County White Rural Schools 
1914-15 to 1920-21 

Percent 
1914-15 1920-21 Gain 

Value white school property $94,410 $131,287 39.1 

Total school fund (white and black) _ 70,017 365,314 422. 
Raised by local tax 15,065 22,000 46. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 53 

Total expenditure (white and black)- 68,154 289,233 324. 

Spent on teaching and supervision __ 47,857 157,092 228. 

Spent on teacher salaries 41,811 150,768 261. 

Spent on buildings and supplies 6,268 20,887 238. 

White school population 10,793 11,357 5.2 

White school enrollment 8,716 10,311 18.3 

Percent enrolled 80.8 90.8 10. 

White daily attendance 5,570 6,554 17.6 

Percent daily attendance 63.9 63.6 .3* 

Number white teachers 174 228 31. 

Average annual salaries $ 235 $ 661 181. 

Number white schools 94 92 2.1* 

Number white school districts 95 92 2.1* 

Number white school houses 95 94 1.0* 

Average value of each school house__$ 994 $ 1,400 40.8 
Number white one-teacher schools- _ 44 19 57. 
Teachers with 4 or more years' ex- 
perience 59 128 117. 

Teachers w'ith colJege diplomas 13 18 38.5 

Local tax districts 54 66 22.2 

Average term in days 105 130 23.8 

White schools with patent desks 54 61 12.9 

White schools with home-made desks 41 31 24.4* 
*Means decrease. 

Sources of Information 

Based on reports of the State and County Superintendents of 
Public Instruction, and special files of the Department of Rural 
Social Economics at the University. 



VI 

^ARM CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES 



W. M. SANDERS, Jr., 

SmitMeld, N. C. 

In the discussion of Johnston county it must be remembered 
that • she is primarily a great agricultural county. In 1919 
she had more farms than any county in North Carolina and 
there were only two counties in the state that produced greater 
crop wealth than Johnston. Her grand total of crop wealth 
was $19,229,785, of which $15,023,307 was produced by two 
non-food crops, cotton and tobacco. Only $4,206,478 was pro- 
duced by food and feed crops. In addition, about $1,400,000 
was produced by livestock and livestock products. It would be 
very interesting to know just how much of this farm wealth 
the producers retain. We send out a very large part of it for 
fertilizers, for imported food and feed, for mules and horses 
and the like. We retain in Johnston little that we produce. It 
is poor policy for a farmer to toil from day to day in the fields 
producing only cotton and tobacco, whereas he could very easily 
raise food for his family and livestock. If he were assured of 
getting profitable prices for his non-food crops each year the 
situation would not be so bad, but prices are often below pro- 
duction costa and the profits and saving of fat years are wiped 
away at one swoop. After buying food for his family and live- 
stock, and also buying fertilizers and other necessities, the farm- 
er is heavily in debt and is absolutely dependent upon good 
prices for cotton and tobacco to break even. Many farmers 
contend that it is more profitable to raise cotton and tobacco, 
and buy food with the money reaped, than to raise the food 
needed. Under certain conditions this might be true. If he had 
the money and could purchase supplies at cash prices and save 
high interest charges of supply merchants, and if he was assured 
of good prices for his crops, he could follow his present system 
with profit perhaps. But the last two years, 1920 and 1921, are 
good illustrations of the fallacy of the one-crop system. The 
prices for non-food crops are often not as satisfactox-y as many 
of us would like to see them. Therefore we would do well to 
balance up our farm system by enlarging the acreage of food 
and feed crops and to pay more attention to livestock, poultry. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 55 

milk, butter, eggs and gardens. Experiments made by the gov- 
ernment and by thousands of farmers have proved that the 
man who raises food and feed crops along with his cotton and 
tobacco is invariably in a much better condition financially than 
his neighbor who raises only cotton and tobacco and buys food 
and feed with the cash received from the sale of these crops. 

Food Cro^s end Farm Wealth 

In 1910 our total farm property was valued at $13,684,318, 
whereas in 1920 it has increased to $40,747,814, or an increase 
in farm wealth of 197.5 percent. The state average increase was 
134.5 percent. This is evidence that Johnston is a great agri- 
cultural county. She made marvelous strides along agricultural 
lines from 1910 to 1919 when the census was taken at top prices 
and when all were happy and prosperous. While we are richer 
today than in 1910, farm wealth would not now be given m at 
1919 prices. The slump in prices hit every one and especially 
those who had incurred large debts to be paid from the s'ile of 
.high-priced cotton and tobacco in the fall of 1920. 

Johnston's crop-yielding power per acre in 1919 was $108.3 
and only eight counties were ahead of us. We were ahead of the 
state average which was $61.4 per acre. In the production of 
agricultural wealth per rural inhabitant in 1919 we stood elev- 
enth, our average being $508, while the state average was only 
$313. ty agricultural wealth is meant everything that is pro- 
duced on the farm, such as livestock, livestock products, food 
crops, and non-food crops. 

Non-Food Crops 

By non-food crops is meant crops that do not serve as food 
for man or beast. In 1910 the value of our non-food crops was 
$3,221,386. Our cotton and tobacco crops in 1920 produced 
wealth to the amount of $15,023,307. We are 86th in percent 
of agricultural wealth produced by non-food crops. Only four- 
teen counties give large attention to cash crop farming. Seven- 
ty-two percent of all farm wealth ni Johnston is produced by 
cotton and tobacco alone, while food, feed, livestock, livestock 
products, and the like make up twenty-eight percent. In the 
state at large sixty percent of all farm wealth in 1919 was pro- 
duced by the tv/o big cash crops. 

Cotton 

Here is where Johnston is among the very first. In 1860 our 
total production was 2,892 bales. Eighteen counties were ahead 
of us. In 1900 we ranked eighth in total production with 17,- 



56 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

835 bales. Our total production in 1909 was 34,795 bales, and 
we were outranked only by Robeson, which county produced 
65,823 bales. In 1919 we were still second, and Robeson was 
again the only county in the state ahead of us. Her production 
was 61,737 bales, while our total production was 48,047 bales. 
Our total production of cotton has increased very rapidly, while 
from 1909 to 1919 Robeson's production showed a small de- 
crease. The state's total production in 1860 was 145,514 400- 
pound bales, and she had increased to 858,406 500-pound bales 
in 1919. 

Tobacco 

Johnston county has increased very rapidly as a tobacco pro- 
ducing county. In 1900 we stood 19th in total production, with 
2,651,760 pounds. We had increased from 2,651,760 pounds 
to 3,960,831 pounds in 1909. In 1919 we had a pi-oduction of 
9,357,193 pounds, and ranked 12th in the state. The number 
of acres cultivated in tobacco in Johnston were 5,862 during 
1909, and 13,637 during 1919. Johnston produces an excellent 
grade of tobacco and only eleven counties grow more per acre. 
Quality counts more in tobacco than in any other crop. 

Johnston First in Farms 

We should be very proud of the fact that in 1920 we had the 
largest number of farms in the state. The census of 1920 credits 
U3 with 7,026 farms. In 1900 we had 4,452 farms. This shows 
a considerable increase. But the farms in Johnston are among 
the smallest in the United States. They average only 25.3 cul- 
tivated acres each, and few counties in the entire nation have 
smaller farms. This is the result of our tenant system based on 
cotton and tobacco farming with little food production. 

Johnston contains 516,480 acres of land. Only seven coun- 
ties in the state have a larger land acreage. In 1920 we had 
396,438 acres in farms, while in 1900 we had 371,000 acres in 
farms. In 1920 76.7 percent of our land was in farms. The 
average number of acres per farm in 1920 was 56.4, with 25.3 
acres cultivated. Out of our 7,026 farms in 1920, only 3,421 
were operated by owners, 3,597 were operated by tenants, and 
eight operated by managers. Farm tenancy is the rule in John- 
ston and we are rapidly increasing in tenancy. Between 1910 
and 1920 the tenants increased 25.9 percent, while farms in- 
creased only 16.6 percent. Land ownership for the few and land 
orphanage for the many is becoming the rule. And it is an un- 
safe, unwholesome, and uneconomic condition. We cannot ac- 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 57 

cumulate wealth and have really wholesome economic and so- 
cial conditions when the masses of our farmers have no land 
and no home they can call their own. They are forever on the 
move, either from choice or necessity. More than half of our 
population has no real interest in the community in which they 
live nor in the land out of which they dig their existence. 

Livestock Status 

Johnston county suffered a loss in poultry production from 
1910 to 1920. In 1910 we produced 316,850 poultry and in 1920 
we produced only 272,018, a decrease of 44,832. Only Wake 
and Pitt counties were ahead of us in poultry production in 
1920. In 1910 Johnston was led by only one county in the state, 
namely Wake, which produced 321,664. The production of 
poultry should be an interesting sideline for farmers, and could 
easily be made a profitable one. Every farmer in Johnston would 
be wise to stock his farm with good poultry. 

In April of 1910 we had 52,619 head of swine, 33,638 of 
which were mature hogs, with an estimated total value of $164,- 
844. In January of 1920 Johnston had on hand 46,369 hogs, 
19,567 of which were hogs under six months old, with a total 
value of $603,811. The difference of date of taking the two 
censuse:^ accounts for the smaller number reported in 1920. 
There was a large increase in value, since pork was about four 
times as costly in 1920 as in 1910. Although Johnston led the 
state in the production of swine in both 1910 and 1920, we hsould 
give mere attention to this form of meat production in the fu- 
ture. It is the easiest and cheapest source of meat supply in 
a cotton and tobacco region, where corn must be grown to feed 
workstock. The value of home-raised meats is known to every 
one, and this subject need not be enlarged upon here. With the 
pre-ient good prices for pork, we should greatly increase our 
pork production. 

Fourteen counties produced more cattle than Johnston did in 
1910, Ashe led in that year with 21,446. Johnston had in 1910, 
10,878 cattle. Twenty-three counties produced more cattle than 
Johnston in 1920, in which year she had only 8,435. Ashe again 
led with 22,332. Johnston ranks first in farms and farm popu- 
lation but low in cattle, especially dairy cattle and consequently 
milk and butter. Her tenant population knows not the taste of 
milk and butter except occasionally when a neighbor treats. Our 
farm stock, namely mules and horses, increased in the ten years 
from 7,714 to 10,568. 

It is astonishing to know that our sheep loss from 1910 to 



58 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

1920 was 71 percent. In 1910 we had 2,387 sheep and only 
686 in 1920, or one sheep to ten farms. 

Our farmers ought always to bear in mind that whether we 
consider the state or the United States, we invariably find that 
high per capita country wealth goes hand in hand with an 
abundance of domestic animab and a substantial production of 
food and feed crops, and that low per capita wealth is always 
found where farm animals and home-raised necessities are lack- 
ing. Johnston is a wonderful county with an abundance of good 
land and an ideal climate for agricultural pui'poses. Her present 
prosperity is due more to her natural endowments than to her 
farm system. Before we can hope to be the county we should 
be our farmers must own their land and homes and we must be- 
come a producer of cash crops on a food-and-feed and livestock 
basis. Then and not until then will Johnston have permanent 
prosperity. 

Farm Conditions and Practices in Johnston For the Year 1919, 
Unless Indicated 

1st in farms, number 7,026 

18th in Increase in farms, 1910 to 1920, percent- 16.6 

Edgecombe increased 31.1 percent. State in- 
creased 66.3 percent. Thirty-eight counties 
lost farms. 

69th in Farm tenancy, percent tenants 51.2 

iScotland 79.6 percent tenants. State aver- 
age 43.5 percent tenants. 
73rd in Increase in farm tenants, 1910 to 1920 

percent 25.9 

Forty-two counties decreased in tenants. State 

increase in number of tenants 9.5 percent. 

29th in Increase in negro farmers, 1910 to 1920, 

percent 15.6 

Lenoir increase 71.6 percent in negro farm- 
ers. State increase 16.2 percent negro, 
2.8 percent white. 
31st in Land area under cultivation, percent of to- 
tal area 34 

Scotland 66 percent. State average 26.3 percent 

3rd in Total farm wealth, 1920 $ 40,747,814 

15th in Ten-year increase in farm wealth, 1910 to 

1920, percent 197.5 

State increase 134.5 percent. Greene increas- 
ed 310 percent. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 59 

2nd in Investment in farm implements per acre of 

land in farms $ 6.50 

State average $2.70. 
7th in Investments in farm implements per farm__$ 290 

Scotland $441. 
3rd in Total production of agricultural wealth. __$ 20,646,863 
Robeson $24,045,294. 
13th in Production of agricultural wealth per farm $ 2,939 

State average $2,104. Scotland $5,022. 

3rd in Total production of crop wealth $ 19,229,785 

iRobeson $22,955,950. 

75th in Average cultivated acres per farm 25.3 

State average 30.4 acres, and only Massachu- 
chusetts has smaller farms. Johnston farms 
are too small. 
19th in Increase in farm wealth per rural inhabi- 
tant, 1910 to 1920, percent 204 

Pitt increased 335. percent. 

12th in Tobacco production, pounds 9,357,193 

Pitt produced 25,390,000 pounds. In 1910 
Johnston produced 2,652,000 pounds. 

2nd in Cotton production in 1919, bales 48,047 

Robeson 61,737 bales. In 1900 Johnston pro- 
duced 17,835 bales, and in 1860 she pro- 
duced 2,892 bales. 
86th in Agricultural wealth produced by non food 

crops, percent 72 

In Scotland 84 percent is produced by cotton 
and tobacco. In North 'Carolina 60 percent 
of all agricultural wealth is produced by cot- 
ton and tobacco. 

3rd in Cotton production per acre, pounds 389 

State average 312 pounds. Scotland 424 
pounds 

12th in Tobacco production per acre, pounds 686 

State average 610 pounds. Greene 825 pounds 
per acre. 

2nd in Corn production, total crop, bushels 1,279,356 

Robeson 1,376,244 bushels. 

31st in Wheat production per acre, bushels 9.4 

State average 7.7 bushels per acre. 

34th in Hay and forage production, tons 6,956 

Mecklenburg 26,208 tons. Johnston leads in 
mules and horses but ranks low in hay and 



60 Johnstorx County: Economic and Social 

forage. 
33rd in Increase in hay and forage production, 1910 

to 1920, percent 141 

State gain 90 percent. 

9th in Crop-yielding power per acre $ 108.30 

State average $61.40 per acre. 

18th in Oats production, bushels 29,127 

Anson 108,276 bushels. 

60th in Irish potato production, bushels 12,860 

Duplin 246,212 busheb. State total 2,853,997 
bushels or a little more than one bushel per 
capita. 

1st in Sweet potato production, bushels 418,750 

30th in Livestock levels, percent of a lightly stock- 
ed farm area 35 

A lightly stocked farm area has one animal unit 
to every five acres. An animal unit equals a 
hor^'e or mule, one dairy cow, two other cat- 
tle, 5 hogs, 10 pigs, 100 poultry. The live- 
stock in Johnston consists largely of mules 
and horses, not dairy and beef cattle. 
86th in Bill for imported food and feed supplies__$ 3,854,591 
Only fourteen counties send out more money 
for imported food stuffs, all with larger 
towns and more manufacturing than John- 
ston. 



VII 

HOME RAISED FOOD AND THE LOCAL MARKET 

PROBLEM 



W. M. SANDERS, Jr., 

Smithfield, N. C. 

Our Immense Food (Shortage 

We find there is a shortage of food production in Johnston 
county amounting' to nearly four million dollars. Our inhabi- 
tants, along with their cattle and livestock, consume nearly twice 
as much feed as they produce. In dollars and cents, we produce 
nearly four times more in money cropa than we do in food crops. 
In 1919 this left us a surplus of over eleven million dollars, out 
of which all other expenses were paid. But there were clothes 
and livestock to be bought, taxes and house rent to be paid, chil- 
dren to be educated and books to be bought for them, automo- 
bile3 to keep up, mortgages to be paid ofi^, enormous fertiizer 
bills, plus a thousand and one other incidentals. These addi- 
tional expenses consumed practically all the eleven million dol- 
lars, for we had only nine dollars per capita in bank savings, mo- 
ney laid up for a rainy day. 

We must remember here that 1919 was an unusually good 
year, that we were paid high prices for o.ur money crops, name- 
ly, cotton and tobacco, and that we could afford to buy our food 
that year, which was one in twenty. In other years we go in 
the hole, lose money by this terrible practice of neary all money 
crops and little or no food crops. If this is not changed John- 
ston county will never be the rich county she should be. True 
we have other products to exchange for food products, but the 
time will come when this system will in all likelihood fail as 
grieviously. 

The shortage in detail will best be seen by a complete study 
of the table on food and feed needs and deficits at the close 
of this chapter. We are showing here some alarming facts about 
critical conditions in Johnston county. 

Why Our Farmers Fall Behind 

Our farmers fail to the extent of $3,854,591 in supplying food 
and feed needed, for three reason: First, because of excessive 



62 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

production of cotton and tobacco; second, excessive farm ten- 
ancy .under mortgage systems, which prohibits the raising of 
food and feed crops — they must raised money crops or else 
starve; and third, the lack of cash marketg for home-raised 
food and feed. The fact that we have not such markets is much 
to be regretted. It is a potent factor in the neglect of food and 
feed production. 

Too Little (Home Raised Supplies 

The greater part of Johnston's total crop wealth is produced 
by cotton and tobacco, and the ratio is increasing yearly. Year- 
ly we are giving more attention to non-food crops instead of 
balancing our farm system, thus causing an unsound farming 
basis. We are to a large degree dependent upon other states for 
food sustenance. 

In the production of corn, we do fairly well, having a deficit 
of only 4.9 bushels per inhabitant per year. We fell much fur- 
ther behind in wheat production per person, in this respect 
ranking 54th among the 100 counties in the state. We pro- 
duce only .5 bushel per person, whereas 4 bushels are needed; 
the result is a total deficit of 171,493 bushels. Only 18 coun- 
ties in the state produce enough wheat for local needs. 

We did better in the production of oats, producing 28,127 
bushels. Even with this we did not produce enough to supply 
our own consumption. We "ank very low in the production of 
hay and forage with only 6,596 tons. Mecklenburg led the state 
with 26,208 tons. Johnston ranks first in mules and horses but 
34th in hay and forage. Our hay and forage production in- 
creased 141 percent from 1909 to 1919, while the state as a 
whole increased only 90 percent. Our production in both census 
years was ridiculously low. 

In egg production in 1919 we were 59th in rank, producing 
8.2 dozen per inhabitant, whereas there was a need for 17.5 
dozen. We produced 452,539 dozen, and our deficit was 404,- 
926 dozen. Only a very few counties in the state produce sur- 
pluses. We have approximately 216,000 poultry. 

In the value of dairy products we rank 31st., the total value 
in 1919 being nearly two hundred thousand dollars, whereas 
Buncombe county produced $744,901 worth. We produced ap- 
proximately a million gallons of milk, and butter made on farms 
totaled over three hundred thousand pounds. Our milk and 
butter production does not approach our local needs. We im- 
port great quantities of butter, and of condensed milk and yet 
we fail to consume as much butter and milk as is needed to bal- 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 63 

ance our food diet. 

We lacked 9 pounds of doubling the state average in the 
per capita pork production of 99 pounds. Johnston is the lead- 
ing pork producing county of the state and in thig one particu- 
lar are we about self-feeding. We had 46,930 swine in 1920. 

Fifty-nine counties in the state produced more Irish potatoes 
than did Johnston. But we lead the state in producing sweet 
potatoes. In 1919 we produced 418,750 bushels of sweet pota- 
toes, which fell short of our 1909 crop by 56,733 bushels. 

It is^ appalling that we ranked 86th among all the counties in 
the bill for food and feed supplies in 1919. This means that 
Johnston county is bettered by 85 counties in North Carolina 
in "living at home." The deficit of nearly four million dollars 
has been given above, but we wish again to give warning that 
if this farm system is not changed for a better one, Johnston 
county will never be the rich and prosperous county she could 
easily become. 

Why We Are Not Self-Feeding 

First, we are not self-feeding because we pay too much at- 
tention to cotton and tobacco, money crops. Farmers seem to 
think that they must continue the time-honored custom of in- 
tenidve agriculture, that they must spend all their time and 
energy in the production of money crops — and indeed it does 
take all their time. From daybreak till night they toil in the 
fields, slaves of dollars, forgetful of food. Food and feed crops 
do not require so much attention as the money crops, and farm- 
ers could raise enough of them to feed their families and livestock 
and yet have considerable acreage to put into cotton and to- 
bacco. To do this would involve very little extra cost and 
trouble. 

Second, excessive tenancy forces tenants to produce cotton 
and tobacco. Land owners, desiring maximum per acre yields, 
cannot afford for tenants to turn their lands into food and feed 
crops. The yields are too low, they require large tracts of land 
in order to get suflicient produce for a fair per worker return. 
Landlords and supply merchants will not allow tenants to pro- 
duce anything but money crops in most cases. 

Third, the lack of good marketing facilities causes a lack of 
food production. Money crops are sold so much more easily, 
because the market seeks the producer; but not so with the 
food crops. Here the crop seeks the market. No towns in the 
county are large enough to demand large quantities of food at 



64 Johnston County: Economci and Social 

one time. It is hard for a farmer to go to town and sell a large 
load of vegetables, because the demand for them is not suffi- 
cient. The same is true of many other food products. These 
facts cause the production of food in Johnston to be unprofit- 
able when raised on a commercial basis. But there is no excuse 
for a farmer's buying many food products. He can very easily 
produce enough meat, flour, vegetables and fruits to last through- 
out the year, and can also raise enough hay, forage, corn and 
oats, to feed his livestock throughout the year. The sooner we 
do this, the sooner will we become a wealthy county. If our 
farmers could retain the four million dollars we spend annually 
for imported food and feed supplies we would double the value 
of our total farm property in less than a decade. When we 
advocate this we do not mean that the farmer should abandon 
money crops; far from it. We cannot afford to give up the 
money crops, but we can well afford to raise more of our food 
supplies. Too long have we been trying to get rich by buying 
food for ourselves and livestock with cotton and tobacco money, 
and we have found that it cannot be done. Middle-Western 
farmers are rich because they do the very things we fail to do. 
Why can we not learn this simple lesson? Experience should be 
our 'teacher. We can fill our pantries, barns, smoke-houses, and 
silos with home-raised foods at a smaller cost than we can buy 
them. 

Solution of tlie Market Problem 

Briefly, the solution lies in the co-operation of the producers 
and the consumers, by their "getting together." The producer 
should get more for his products at the same time the consumer 
gets more for his money, and if this does not happen the prob- 
lem has not been solved successfully. The middleman is a cause 
of this failure to a large degree. Why not build co-operative 
community market houses? 

Co-operative Marketing 

Here is the one solution. The producer is powerless unless 
' supported by the consumer, and vice versa. Success in this 
matter depends upon credit accommodations from banks. Con- 
sumers and producers must be linked together, bankers and 
transporters must be favorable and attentive; then the farmers' 
chance is at its zenith, and the consumers' cost is at its lowest 
level. "Success lies in collusion, not in collision, in co-operation 
not in contest." 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 65 

What the Banks Can Do 

Bankers in Texas refuse to loan to supply-merchants who 
do a crop-lien business protected by cotton alone. They set a 
minimum acreage which must be devoted to food production, 
usually half the cultivated acreage, and farmers are required 
by their mortgagors to produce this acreage of food. These 
Texas bankers are forcing the farmers through the merchants 
to do thii) in order to produce a sufficiency of bread and meat 
on every farm. 

This is a sound policy. It could be applied in eastern North 
Carolina. Johnston county is not producing enough food and 
feed within her borders. Johnston county bankers could do the 
people of the county a great service by instituting such a system. 
It means bigger, better, and safer business to the merchants and 
bankers. Bankers could do more in a single year to solve this 
problem than all the farm demonstrators could do in a lifetime. 

The farmers could materially help in the solution of this 
problem by producing enough food and feed on their own farms 
to feed their families and livestock plus enough to help feed the 
towns as well. There should be a co-operative food Marketin?j 
Association, which would function ijn avoiding over-crowded 
markets and insuring a standard price. The products so mar- 
keted must be as good and taste as well as those who have been 
importing. Egg.s, vegetables, grains, meats, butter, fruits and 
other things must be produced in steady and reliable quantities, 
and the farmers must stand ready to supply market demands 
upon short notice. 

Food and Feed Needs and Deficits 

1. Food and Feed: 
Needed — 

48,998 people @ $155 per year $7,594,690 

11,327 work animals @ $78 per year 883,506 

7,215 dairy cows @ 37 per year__ 266,955 

1,552 other cattle @ $16 per year 24,832 

686 sheep @ $3 per year 2,058 

46,930 swine @ $13 per year 610,090 

2,163 animal units of poultry @ $78 168,714 

Total food and feed needed $ 9,550,845 

2. Produced: 

Food and feed crops $4,206,478 

Dairy products 186,469 



66 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Poultry products 421,281 

Honey and wax 4,192 

Animals sold and slaughtered 877,834 



Total food and feed produced $ 5,696,254 



Shortage in home-raised food and feed $ 3,854,591 

All other crops were valued at 15,023,307 



Surplus in dollars $11,168,716 

3. Distribution of Food and Feed Shortage: 



Pounds 



(1) Meat needed for 48,998 people @ 

152 lbs. 7,468,000 

Produced — 

400 Calves at 150 lbs., 60,000 

2,600 cattle @ 350 lbs., 910,000 

316,000 poultry at 3.5 Iba, 1,106,000 

36,000 hogs @ 200 lbs., 7,200,000 

700 goats and sheep @ 100 lbs., ___ 70,000 



Total home meat produced 9,340,000 



Surplus 1,878,000 

Pounds 

(2) Butter needed for 48,998 people @ 48 lbs 2,351,804 

produced 319,323 



deficit 2,032,481 

Fowls 
(3) Fowls needed for 48,998 people @ 13 fowl9___ 656,974 
produced 186,010 



deficit 470,964 

Dozen 
(4) Eggs needed for 48,998 people @ 17 1-2 dozen 856,665 
produced 452,539 



deficit 404,126 

Bushels 

(5) Corn needed for 48,998 people @ 31 bushels _ 1,518,938 

produced 1,279,356 



deficit 239,582 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 67 

Bushels 

(6) Wheat needed for 48,998 people @ 4 bushels 195,992 

produced 24,864 

deficit 171,128 

Tons 

(7) Hay needed for 10,591 work animals @ 10 

lbs., per day 19,323 

produced 6,956 

deficit 12,467 

Facts About Food and Feed Production 

Rank indicates counties in the State that make a better 
showing. 

10th in Corn production per capita in 1919, bushels.- 26.1 

Hyde led with 46.3 bu9hels. State average was 
16 bushels. Needed per per3on for man a-nd 
beast, 31 bushels per year. Deficit 4.9 bushels 
per inhabitant. Total deficit 239,582 bushels. 
54th in Wheat production per capita in 1919, bushels .5 

Randolph led with 9.6 bushels. State average 
1.8 bushels. Needed, 4 bushels per person 
per year. Deficit per person 3.5 bushels. 
Total deficit 171,128 bushels. Only 18 coun- 
ties produced wheat surpluses. 
18th in Oats production, total crop in 1919, bushels 28,127 

Anson county led with 108,276 bushels. State 
total 1,671,308 bushels. 
34th in Hay and forage production, total crop in 

1919, tons 6,596 

Mecklenburg led with 26,208 tons. 
21st in Pork production per inhabitant in 1919, pounds 189 

Tyrrell led with 364 pounds per capita. State 
average was 99 pounds per capita. 

59th in Egg production per capita in 1919, dozen 8.2 

Needed, 17.5 dozen per capita. Only 9 counties 
in the state produced surpluses. Our deficit 
was 404,926 dozen. Produced 452,539 dozen. 
60th in Butter production per capita in 1919, pounds 6.5 

State average was 10 pounds per inhabitant. 

1st in Sweet potato production in 1919, bushels 418,750 

60th in Irish potato production in 1919, bu3hels 12,860 

Duplin led with 246,212 bushel. 



68 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

86th in Deficit in in home-raised food and feed sup- 
plies, 1919 $ 3,854,591 

Only 3 counties produced a surplus. State de- 
ficit $230,000,000. 

2nd in Total corn production in 1919, bushels 1,279,356 

State total 40,998,317 bushels. 

31st in Wheat production per acre in 1919, bushels 9.4 

State average per acre production was 7.7 
bushels. 
33rd in Increase in hay and forage production, 1909- 

1919, per cent 141 

State average increase 90 percent. 

31st in Value of dairy products in 1919, dollars $ 186,469 

Buncombe led with value of $744,901, 
Milk produced as reported, 953,855 gallons, and 
butter made on farms, 319,323 pounds. 

JOHNSTON IN 1860 AND 1920. 

Crops and Livestock 1860 1920 

Corn, bushels _-_ 468,583 1,279,356 

Hay, ton3 8,137 6,956 

Wheat, bushels 5,967 24,864 

Oats, bushels -__ 22,871 28,127 

Peas and beans, bushels 77,708 17,840 

tSorghum, gallons 1 9,778 

Sweet potatoes, bushels -_-_ 222,210 418,750 

Irish potatoes, bushels 4,927 12,860 

Cotton, bales 2,892 48,047 

Tobacco, pounds 13,070 9,357,198 

Wool, pounds : 10,920 1,419 

Butter, pounds 68,883 319,323 

Ploney, pounds 13,628 15,937 

Horses 2,236 1,770 

Mules 772 8,798 

Dairy cattle 4,343 7,033 

Other cattle 6,447 1,402 

Sheep 8,453 686 

Swine 40,527 46,369 

JOHNSTON IN 1909 AND 1920 

Crops 1909 1920 

Corn, bushels 951,441 1,279,356 

Hay, tons 2,892 6,956 

Wheat, bushels 19,888 24,864 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 69 

Oati^, bushels 45,450 28,127 

■Soy beans, bushels 3,699 

Cow peas, bushels 56,464 14,141 

Peanuts, bushels 12,732 387 

Sorg-hum, gallons 13,502 9,778 

Sweet potatoes, bushels 475,483 418,750 

Irish potatoes, bushels 22,265 12,860 

Cotton, bales 34,795 48,047 

Tobacco, pounds 3,960,8'31 9,357,193 



VIII 

THINGS TO BE PROUD OF IN JOHNSTON 



W. M. SANDERS, Jr., 

Smithfield, N. C. 

The People 

Johnston county has a people of whom we are justly proud. 
They are known far and wide for their native energy, spirit 
and courteousness. A study of previous chapters will clearly 
indicate their energy. They are progressive in every sense of 
the word, ever on the alert to do things that will better not only 
themselves, but the county, the state, and the nation as well. 

Soils, Sea&ons and Climate 

According to the report of the U. S. Geological Survey on 
the county, we have a total of 28 different types of soil, most of 
which are very fertile, offering great opportunities in agricul- 
ture, and producing a wide range of agricultural products. The 
beat growing season lastsi from the first of April to late autumn, 
but many crops are grown in winter, among them winter wheat 
and alfalfa. Johnston's 516,480 acres of highly productive land 
are her greatest natural resource. No county in the state has 
more good agricultural land than Johnston. Our principal 
wealth comes as a result of this fact. 

Johnston's climate is never excessively hot nor excessively 
cold. Crops seldom suffer from drought; we have a sufficient 
amount of precipitation, evenly distributed throughout the year. 
Situated midway between the mountains and the sea, our climate 
is healthful and invigorating, a great asset in every way. 

Population Growth 

Our population increase during the ten-year period from 1910 
to 1920 was 18.3 percent, and we ranked 32nd among all coun- 
ties in the state in this particular. During this period the white 
ratio increase one percent over the negro population, a fact 
which is to the advantage of the county. Only one township 
in the county registered a loss in population, and that one was 
Beulah, situated on the northern boundary of the county. The 
loss in this instance was due to the organization of a new town- 
ship, Micro, and indicated progress rather than retrogression. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 71 

Owing to our agricultural opportunities, our rural population 
density is 50.2 people per square mile. This means better labor 
conditions on farms, more tilled farms, and better crops, greater 
wealth production, and all the social advantages that come 
from wealth and relatively dense population. Eighty-one percent 
of our farms are cultivated by white people and no cotton and 
tobacco belt county in the state has as large a ratio of white 
farmers. Dare and Carteret counties on the coast are the only 
counties east of Greensboro with a larger percent of white farm- 
ers. We have 1,741 more white farmers than any county in 
North Carolina. They number 5,695 while Sampson, which 
ranks next, has only 3,954 white farmers. 

Farm Increases 

Our farm wealth of $1,004 per country inhabitant in 1920 
is an increase of 204 percent over the wealth of 1910. This 
means that Johnston's rural population is using better methods 
of agriculture, that more acres are being tilled, that better 
products are being marketed, and that the people are making 
and saving more. We want this to continue in the future, and 
to have a greater Johnston this will be necessary. However, it 
must be remembered that land values were much higher in 1919 
than today; and it was increase in land value that brought about 
the greater part of our wealth gains. 

Real estate tax values increase nearly sixfold from 1910-20. 
This means that Johnston county real estate on the tax books 
has nearly doubled ever two years. The demand for fertile 
fields in her rural districts and for desirable lots in her hustling 
towns has greatly Increased land values. 

Farmers, realizing to some extent the importance of home 
production of food, have increased their production of poultry 
and swine. But our food crops lack a great deal of supplying 
the demand at home. 

Agricultural Wealth 

In taking stock of our wealth, agriculture again looms into 
importance. Our agricultural wealth has increased enormously 
during the last ten years. The farm wealth increase was due 
to increased value in farm lands more than anything else, for 
land values constitute a large proportion of our agricultural 
wealth. But it is the ability to produce crops, twenty million 
dollars worth in 1919, that gives our land its high capital value. 
Johnston ranks 3rd in North Carolina and among the fifty lead- 
ing counties of the nation in the value of her crops. The aver- 



72 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

age production of farm wealth per farm in 1919 was nearly 
$3,000. It consisted mainly of cotton, tobacco, corn and hogs. 
All other crops and livestock amount to only a small total in 
Johnston, and this is true everywhere else in eastern North 
Carolina. 

Agricultural Production 

Our enormous agricultural production is due largely to four 
factors. First we have more farms than any county in the 
state, and they are distributed all over the county. Second, yield 
per acre is very high here, due to the fertility of the soils. We 
are onei of the leading counties in the state in per acre pro- 
duction, in fact only eight counties in the state' lead us. Third, 
our investment in farm implements is and has been a great 
factor in our predominance in .agricultural production. We 
rank next to the highest in the state in investment in farm im- 
plements per acre, and of this we may well be proud. The 
average investment in implements per farm is $290, which is 
high in a state of hand farmers but miserably low when com- 
pared with all western states. Our cultivated acreage per farm 
is too small to use much farm machinery profitably. We need 
to double the acreage per farm. 

The above facts, coupled with our native energy and good 
growing season, afford us excellent advantages for high agri- 
cultural production. We should change our tactics a little and 
produce more food crops on larger cultivated farms with the 
use of more machinery. Could we secure better markets for 
the sale of our produce, then Johnston would utilize her ad- 
vantages with a marked and profitable degree of success. 

Taxable Wealth 

Our total taxable wealth is enormous. In 1921 our taxable 
property alone reached the amazing .amoujit of 42 million 
dollars. Only a little more than one and one-half million dol- 
lars of this was the property of negroes. Our farm wealth is 
the principal source from which we collect our taxes. The in- 
crease in farm wealth alone was over 200 percent from 1910 
to 1920. As has already been said, this was due largely to the 
great increase in land values. Real estate in Johnston boomed 
during the war, great tracts of land exchanged hands, and mil- 
lions of dollars' worth was sold. The increase in tax value of 
real estate from 1910 to 1920 was nearly 600 percent. Money 
was plentiful and there was great demand for land. Many 
farmers bought land at war price;, giving notes, and later were 




CLAYTON BAPTIST CHURCH, CLAYTON, N. C. 




BAPTLST CHURCH, BENSON, N. C. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 73 

forced to give it up due to the resultant depression because of 
low prices for farm produce. Speculation was at a high pitch 
and enormous sums were made and lost. Town property is also 
a big source of revenue. Practically all land in the towns is at 
a premium. 

Additional sources of revenue are livestock, incomes and the 
like, from which are realized considerable wealth. With the taxes 
paid from these sources, Johnston is soon to have a finer system 
of schools and better roads; and a handsome court house is near- 
ing completion. 

Factories, mills, gins and like enterprises also furnish a large 
source of revenue. Johnston has a great many rough lumber 
mills, many gins, and a few factories, most of which are large 
and have large outputs. These sources, when combined, yield a 
great amount of revenue. 

Education 

While Johnston county ranks well in certain phases of the 
educational life of the state, it must be borne in mind that our 
schools, especially our rural schools, are far from being what 
they should be. This matter has been treated fully in another 
chapter. .Here we sum it up. 

We have a large school population in average daily attend- 
ance, yet only 56.1 percent of the children of school age were 
in daily attendance in 1919. In 1920-21 only 66.6 percent of 
the white children of school age were in daily attendance. This 
is a crime against the rising generations that should be brought 
home to parents who do not see to it that their children go to 
school, especially when there is a law making attendance com- 
pulsory. We have a great many local-tax districts and a large 
school fund as compared to other counties in this state — a state 
of poor country schools. Our people are not willing to spend 
on schools as they should, and consequently there is enormous 
room for improvement. Only 20 counties had more invested 
in rural school property, yet on the whole our buildings are poor. 
We rank first in the number of farms and first in farm popula- 
tion. Why should we not rank first in the value of rural school 
property? 

We are proud of the above facts in so far as we are high in 
rank among the other counties in the state. But we must re- 
member that where we are high in the state we are low in the 
nation; for North Carolina has a long way to go in improving 
her schools. Nevertheless, all things being taken into considera- 
tion, Johnston ranks well in educational matters in this state. 



74 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Especially is this true as regards city schools. Those at Clay- 
ton, Selma, Benson and Smithfield would be a credit to any 
county. The untiring efforts of the last County Superintendent 
of Schools, Mr. Hipps, have made a great change in our system 
of rural schools, while the Superintendents of recent years in 
the above named towns have done equally as much. We are well 
under way, but there is much to be done. Johnston is a wonder- 
ful county, but she has many problems to solve. 

Where We Lead 

8th in size, acres 516,480 

1st in sweet potato production, 1919, bushels 418,750 

2nd in corn production, 1919, bushels 1,279,356 

8th in corn production per capita, 1919, bushels- _ 28.1 

18th in oats production, 1919, bushels 28,127 

21st in pork production per capita, 1919, pounds 189 

8th in population in 1920 48,998 

32nd in population increase 1910 to 1920, percent 18.3 
State increase 15.9 percent. 

13th in townships losing population, percent 5.9 

18th in rural population density, per square mile 50.2 

26th in negro illiterates 10 years old and over, 

percent 21.7 

27th in homicides per million inhabitants, 1913- 

14, rate 60 

22nd in birth per thousand population, 1917, rate__ 35.7 

15th in total taxable property, 1921 $ 42,272,227 

19th in negro taxable property, 1921 $ 1,702,857 

12th in tax value of farm land per acre, 1920 $ 65.80 

3rd in total production of agricultural wealth, 

1920 $ 20,646.863 

13th in production of agricultural wealth per farm $ 2,939 
10th in farm wealth per country inhabitant, 1920__$ 1,004 
19th in increase in farm wealth per country inhabi- 
tant, 1910-1920, percent 204 

15th in increase in real estate tax values, 1910-20, 

percent 586 

12th in per capita investment in automobiles, 1920_-$ 71 

32nd in autos, people per automo)3ile in 1922 16.2 

Johnston had 3,020 cars in March, 1922. 
23rd in surplus paid into the State Treasury in ex- 
cess of school funds and pensions received 

back, 1918 $ 10,196 

20th in professional taxes paid, 1919 $ 315 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 75 

24th in State income taxes paid, 1919 $ 1,679 

2nd in cotton production, 1919, bales 48,047 

3rd in cotton production per acre, 1919, pounds__$ 389 

12th in tobacco production, 1919, pounds. 9,357,193 

12th in tobacco production per acre, 1919, pounds.- 686 

9th in crop yielding power per acre, 1919 $ 108.3 

2nd in investment in farm implements, per acre, 

1920 $ 6.50 

7th in investment of farm implements per farm, 

1920 $ 290 

1st in production of poultry, 1920, number 186,010 

1st in production of swine, 1920, number 46,369 

9th in rural white schools having two or more 

teachers, 1917-18, percent 67.4 

21st in investment in rural school property, 1918-19 $ 122,953 
14th in white school population in average daily at 

tendance, 1918-19, percent 56.1 



IX 
OUR PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTION 



G. Y. RAGSDALE, 
Smithfield, N. C. 

The many things that we have to be proud of in Johnston 
have been related and discussed in the preceding chapter. Here 
the extolling of our virtues conies to an end. We now have 
our problems to look at, and a few suggestions to offer that 
will help to make Johnston a better county. The real solutions 
will have to be worked out by the leading and thinking men and 
women of Johnston. And there are real problems to be solved 
in Johnston. 

We have conditions existing in our county that are retarding 
us in our progress and further development. True, we lead in 
more respects than we lag, but there is plenty of room for im- 
provement. Obviously then, we have work to do. Our prob- 
lems can only be solved by the hearty co-operation of business 
men and bankers, preachers and teachers, and farmers. It will 
require a united people to blot out our faults and to reach high 
levels. 

An Ill-Balanced Farm System 

The 1920 census shows that we have a per capita farm wealth 
of $1,004; a deficiency in home raised food and feed supplies to 
the extent of over three and a half million dollars; an average 
of only 25 acres under cultivation on each farm; over half the 
farms operated by tenants; and per capita bank savings of only 
$9.00 in 1918. 

'Clearly, our farmers are poor. First, they fail to produce 
enough food and feed to supply the wants of the county. Send- 
ing away enormous amounts of cash or food and feed supplies 
we could produce at home keeps us poor. It is just about the 
biggest problem facing Johnston today. An average of 25.3 
cultivated acres per farm is not sufficient to produce all the 
food and feed necessary to satisfy our local needs and in addi- 
tion produce our cash crops. Few areas in the nation have as 
few cultivated acres per farm as Johnston. We need more cul- 
tivated acres, and we can have them, for only one-third the land 
area is under cultivation and there is little land in our county 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 77 

that cannot be put into crops or pastures. Lack of ready cash, 
with which to buy improved farm implements and thereby to 
lower the cosit of crop production, causes us to cultivate a few 
acres by expensive hand labor. We must have ready cash if 
we are to have good roads, schools, churches, and good farms. 
The reason for this deficiency is lack of home-raised food sup- 
plies. The solution is at once obvious. We have been slaves 
to cotton and tobacco for more than half a century, to the neg- 
lect of foods, feeds, and livestock. This is a crime against com- 
mon sense. Our £ioils and seasons are adapted to diversified 
farming and 70 years have proven that cash-crop farming is 
not wise. We are poor not because we do not produce wealth — 
we produce it in abundance — but because the bulk of it slips 
through our fingers in the fall months to meet heavy bills in- 
curred in producing the crops. And it ia not entirely because 
farmers choose this system. More than half of our farmers are 
tenants and tenants have no choice in crop selection. 

Farm Tenancy 

Over fifty-one percent of our farmers are tenants. Of these 
2,059 were share tenants, 733 were croppers, 56 were share-cash 
tenants, 396 were cash tenants, and 351 were standing renters. 
The landless, homeless farm tenants in Johnston numbered 3,- 
597. Our tenants are not negroes but native-born white farm- 
era The negro tenants number only 1,011, while the white ten- 
ants number 2,586, or about 13,000 souls, native white sons of 
Johnston with no land and no home they can call theiri own, and 
mighty few chances of ever acquiring either. They are pilgrims 
within our midst with no home or community ties. They are 
cropper farmers for the most part and grow cash crops., not from 
choice but from necessity. Must they be tenants or is there a 
solution to the problem? 

Illiteracy 

Among the native white inhabitants of Johnston ten years old 
and over, 9.5 percent were classed as illiterates, unable to write 
in any language in the year of Grace 1920. In this particular 
we are 69th, — near the bottom — meaning that 68 counties have 
a lower illiteracy percentage. This is one of our great prob- 
lems, and an insistent one. There rre many arritional near- 
illiterates, needing practically an equal amount of attention. We 
were 74th and 66th respectively in illiteracy among females and 
males 21 years old and over. Over 13 percent of our whites 
of voting age are unable to read and write. These are the bare 



78 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

facts. The problems that result from illiteracy have been treat- 
ed fully in a preceding chapter. 

Plenty of Room 

Sixty^five percent of the land area in Johnston is cut over, 
abandoned land, or la in woodlands and scrub timber. Thou- 
sands of acres of cleared land are idle. It is- necessary that we 
bring this land into use if we are greatly to increase our wealth. 
Our cultivated acres per farm are too few. Our 7,026 farms in 
1920 had a cultivated area of 177,433 acres. The land area of 
Johnston is 516,480 acres. The reader is left to draw his own 
conclusions as to how much room for new farms Johnston has. 
A large increase in rural population coupled with sane farming 
would give us an inestimable increase in prosperity. 

Livestock a Solution 

Reserving 100,000 acres for woodlot purposes, we can hardly 
bring these 239,000 acres under cultivation unless we change 
from a cropping system. Livestock would largely solve the prob- 
lem. Our climate is admirably suited to livestock, and our op- 
portunities for the development of livestock industries are ad- 
mirable. Grain grows well on our soils, and so do grasses. Our 
soib are fertile and well drained. Some one thoroughly famil- 
iar with dairying could come to Johnston, organize a farmers' 
co-operative creamery company, or companies, and materially 
aid Johnston, her farmers and townspeople. Thiis company 
could collect and market milk, butter, eggs, vegetables, and meat 
at a good profit. There are many small towns and a few large 
cities easily within our reach. 

Practically all our farms are too lightly stocked. We do not 
have enough meat-producing animals, and what we do have are 
not of the best quality. Our good showing as a livestock coun- 
ty is due mainly to our horses and mules, of which we have 
more than any county in North Carolina. As a lightly stocked 
farm area Johnston ranks 28th in North Carolina. She is 
65 percent below the level of a lightly stocked farm area of one 
animal unit to every five acres of farm land, as in Iowa for 
instance. Our shortage of 65 percent shows that the number 
of livestock should be almost trebled. Especially do we need 
more milk cows and beef cattle. We must raise more and bet- 
ter meat and milk animals. They are valuable for their meat 
and milk, and they would furnish, besides, rich manure for our 
depleted soils. Meat prices are high, the demand for it is in- 
creasing, and the production in our western states is falling off. 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 79 

Johnston farmers can raise meat, sell it at high prices on ready 
markets, and have plenty of time to raise cash crops also. We 
are looking- forward to the day when Johnston will begin to pro- 
duce more livestock, and have home-grown meat and milk in 
dance. One of our greatest Southerners, Henry Grady, 
editor, philanthropist and philosopher, once said: "When every 
farmer in the South shall eat bread from his own fields and 
meat from his own pantries and, disturbed by no creditor and 
enslaved by no debt, shall amid his teeming orchards and vine- 
yards and dairies and barns pitch his own crops in his own wis- 
dom and grow them in independence; making cotton and tobacco 
clean surplus crops and selling these in his own time, and in his 
chosen market, and not at a master's bidding — getting his pay 
in cash and not in a receipted mortgage that discharges his debt, 
but does not restore his freedom — then and not until then shall 
be the breaking of the fullness of our day." 

Co-operative Solution of Johnston Problems 

As said above, oun people must work together to solve the 
farm problems, for they are our greatest problems. To think 
that the farmer can do this alone is foolish. So long as the 
farmers are held back, then all of Johnston will be held back. 
The farmers of Johnston are its backbone, because Johnston is 
an agricultural county, and we depend upon farming for our 
subsistence. When prices are low or when crops fail, mer- 
chants, bankers and farmers all suffer, and as one. We look 
to the country both for our biggest and most influential men, 
and for our existence necessities. We cannot get along without 
the rural districts; and yet they are cramped and held back 
by selfish forces. Our biggest men come from there, but they 
do not have the best educational facilities. The farmer is en- 
titled to the best advantages available to any of our, people, and 
be it remembered that every good deed the banker, merchant or 
ecclesiastic does for him will be repaid in increased prosperity 
for all. 

Mutual Prosperity 

In this bulletin we have repeatedly said that a town or city 
cannot grow prosperous if the surrounding countryside is neg- 
lected, deprived, and distressed on every side. In the end that 
town or city will cease to progress if these conditions exist 
Many towns and cities, directly dependent upon their immediate 
surroundings, have come to realize that this fact is true, and 
they are doing their utmost to promote the welfare of the 



80 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

farmer. They have realized that the better the condition of 
the farmer, both in trade and in farm conditions and practices, 
the better off the cities will be, both materially and in the good 
will of their farmer customers. The city dweller must help the 
farmer raise abundant supplies and afford him a ready cash mar- 
ket and a fair profit. 

The evils of the supply-merchant, time-credit system have al- 
ready received our attention, and it is a recognized fact that 
the small farmers and tenants are powerless under this system. 
They have failed' in Johnston county to produce enough food 
and feed supplies to the extent of nearly four million dollars, 
either because they did not care to, or else because they were 
not allowed to do it. Recently I heard a supply-merchant ab- 
solutely refuse to allow one of his tenants to plant five acres of 
corn. He said, "Plant cotton." What could that tenant do? 
When this four million dollars for imported food and feed left 
Johnston county it left farmers, bankers, merchants and land- 
owners just that much poorer. How much better off our con- 
ditions would have been had this enormous amount of wealth 
been retained by a bread-and-meat system of farming. It can 
be retained, and easily. 

The bankers of Johnston can do more in a year to promote 
bread-and-meat farming than our gospel of diversified farming 
can do in a lifetime. The Texas bankers saw the folly of allow- 
ing $217,000,000 to leave the state annually for food and feed 
supplies that could be produced at home. They put their fists 
down oa supply-merchants by refusing them loans on crop-liens 
protected by cotton acreage alone. They refuse now to discount 
a note for a farmer unless it contains a detailed written agree- 
ment by the farmer to plant a part of his acreage, usually half, 
in food and feed crops. What} they did is simply this: They 
forced the supply-merchant to force the farmers to become self- 
feeding. In 1920, 230 million dollars left North Carolina for 
the importation of foreign-raised food and feed supplies. Near- 
ly four million dollars of this came from Johnston. "Self-feed- 
ing farmers are self-ifinancing, and self-financing agriculture 
spells prosperity for farmers, merchants and bankers alike." 

The Future of Johnston County 

In our study of Johnston county, the authors of this little bul- 
letin have endeavored to see everything in a broadminded way. 
We may have been radical, but in some respects it seemed best 
to be so. Johnston is a great county but there are problems to 
be solved. We are merely interested in seeing these problems 



Johnston County: Economic and Social 81 

attacked and solved. 

Now, in this last study, we want to dip into tlie future, and 
to visualize the time when all hindering causes shall have dis- 
appeared, when there shall be few farm or town tenants, when 
in place of many one-teacher schools, there shall be a few large 
consolidated schools, and when we shall be beyond question a 
county of constructive ideab and poHcier-. 

First, we hope some day to see a county of land owning and 
home owning farmers, based on the instinct of a home-loving and 
home-living people. It will mean better roads, better schools, 
churches, better supported, with more than 32 percent of our 
inhabitants as members, better homes, with more home conven- 
iences and comforts; more attention to health and sanitation; a 
greater regard for law and order, and a better community life 
in general, when every farmer shall own his own land, shall sit 
by his own fireside, before his own table laden vv^ith hia own 
bread and meat, work his own stock, and till his fields with his 
own machinery. 

During the last few years we have gone forward rapidly 
in our school progress. Several schools have been consolidated, 
and we hope to see further consolidation in the future. We 
expect to see the time when Johnston's school-children will ride 
to school and learn in fine school houses, well equipped and taught 
by the best of teachers, rather than walk through mud, rain and 
snow, and sit in poor buildings, poorly equipped and taught by 
fairly good teachers, as they do now in the rural districts. 

To create the best living conditions in Johnston county is the 
task of all good citizens. Many have already set themselves 
to the task, and we hope that others will catch the vision, de- 
velop the spirit of hearty co-operation, and work hard to make 
Johnston county the foremost county in the state in every phase 
of its life. 

Here we close. It is our hope that Johnston may not only lead 
in the future where she leads now, but that she may also lead 
in the future where she lags now. 

WHERE WE LAG 

Rank indicates the number of counties making a better 
showing. 

60th in Irish potato production, 1919, bushels 12,860 

60th in Butter production per capita, 1919, pounds-- 6.5 
86th in Deficit in home-raised food and feed sup- 
plies $3,854,591 



82 Johnston County: Economic and Social 

Only 14 counties have a bigger bill for food and 
feed. 
74th in White female illiteracy, 21 years old and over, 

percent 13.2 

That is, 73 counties have a smaller ratio of such 
illiteracy, 
noth in White male illiteracy, 21 years old and over, 

percent 12.9 

69th in Native white illiteracy, 10 years old and over, 

percent 9.5 

74th in White ratio gain, 1910-1920, percent 1 

82nd in Church membership, 10 years old and over, 

1916, percent 32 

()3rd in Death.9 per 1,000 population, 1917 rate 13.(5 

64th in Divorces per 100,000 inhabitants, 1916 rate.-. 21.1 

64th in Bank account savings per capita, 1918 $ 9.0 

75th in Average cultivated acres per farm, 1919, 

acres 25.8 

69th in Farms operated, by tenants, percent 51.2 

That is, 68 counties had a smaller ratio of farm 
tenancy. 
73rd in Ten-year increase in farm tenancy, percent. _ 25.9 

State average increase 9.5 percent. 
75th in School expenditures per $1,000 taxable prop- 
erty, 1919-20 $ 3.68 

68th in Expenditures per high school pupil, 1915-16_$ 20.82 

60th in Rural white schools having patent desks, 1918, 

percent 75 

In 1919, 37 of the 95 white rural schools were fur- 
nished with home-made desks. 

Sources of Information 

U. S. Census Reports. 

Reports of State Corporation Commission. 
Reports of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
Rural Social Economics Files, University of North Carolina. 



X 
IRON ORE IN JOHNSTON COUNTY 



W. M. SANDERS, Sr., 
SmitMeld, N. C. 

About the year 1800 a man by the name of Frost came from 
Pennsylvania to Johnston County, attracted here by geological 
charts claiming that there was iron ore of superior quality in the 
county. Mr. Frost was so impressed with the ore that he moved 
here and worked it for a number of years. It is known as brown 
ore and similar in quality to the ore around Birmingham, Ala. 
He employed only crude methods of working the ore. That 
is to say that he made great heaps of logs and stuck the ore in 
the cracks of the logs and in that way the fire converted it into 
a . liquid. He used large hammers to shape the ore into bars 
of iron. The power employed was water and the remains of 
his plant is still in existence, also the pits from which he dug the 
ore. Some years ago several gentlemen employed an expert, 
a Mr. Brown of Nashville, Tenn., to come to the county and ex- 
amine the ore and also to analyze it. Mr. Brown stated that the 
ore was of very superior quality, several degrees better than that 
found near Birmingham and was not surpassed in quality by ore 
anywhere except one or two mines in Switzerland. Some of the 
implements used by Mr. Frost are still in existence, and are re- 
garded as great curiosities. Mr. Frost resided on the lands now 
known as the Frost Plantation, and hence the name. Mr. Frost 
was the grandfather of the late Mr. Abner Avera, a man of fine 
character, and most pleasantly remembered by many of our 
citizens. 



NOTICE!!! 

The business men of the county who have made this booklet 
possible by their adverti^-ements have shown themselves to be 
wide-awake and vitally interested in the county and its welfare. 
They are doing all they can to make our county even better than 
it is, and they deserve your patronage. We recommend them to 
vou. Patronize them. 



I 

I When in 

I 

i 
i 
i 
i 

I "Smithfield's CASH SHOPPING CENTER" 

! Where Your Dollar Counts Most 



— Trade at — 

W. L. Woodall's Sons 



j A complete line of Dry Goods, Notions, 

! Shoes, Hosiery, Underw^ear. 
I 

! The largest and most up-to-date Ready- 
l 

I to-Wear Department in the County 



HOLT OIL COM'PYI 

(Established 1913) i 

Distributors of Texaco PetroleLim Products J 

J 

We maintain brge storage in Smithfield and can | 

supply you with Gasoline, Kerosene, Lubricating Oils \ 
and Greases at any time. I 

j 
Superior Quality Dependable Service j 

Telephone 191 | 

Smithfield, North Carolina I 

\ 
Branches at Clinton and Warsaw | 

I 



Established 1880 
General Merchant and Farmer 

Smithfield, N. C. 



I offer for sale: 

Registered Hampshire Pigs. 

Brick, Lime, Cement^ Wall Plaster, Finishing Lime, 
Manufactured Lumber, Laths, Shingles, both metal and 
Red Cedar, and other Building Materials- 

I sell the Cole Planters and Distributors, and the I. H. 
C. Farm Implements, including Riding Cultivators and 
the McCormack Mowers, and Hackney Wagons 

A complete stock of Vulcan and Chattanooga one and 
two-horse Plows and Castings will be found at my store. 
Reliable Mules and Horses will be found for sale at 
my Stables during each winter and spring. 

Always in the market for all Country 
Produce 



1 W.M.SANDERS 

I Phone 21 Phone 21 

I Smithfield, N. C. 



J 



i Special Instruction for teachers and those preparing to teach in 
I subjects offered by the School of Education and the Summer 
1 School. 



The 

University of North Carolina 

Maximum Service to the People J 

\ 
■ of the State [ 

i 
j 

Regular Instruction for students^ in Accounting, Foreign Trade, i 

Banking, Transportation, Political Economy, Business Law, Elec- i 

trical Engineering, Chemical Engineeing, Highway Engineering, i 

Soil Investigation, Journalism, Social Science, Government, Edu- i 

cation, Music, and all subjects embraced in the 'College of Liberal ! 

Arts, the Schools of Applied Science, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, f 

Commerce, and the Graduate School, Public Welfare. f 



J 



i 

s i 

I General Instruction for the public through the following depart- | 

) ments of the Bureau of Extension: (1) General Information; i 

I (2) Lectures and Study Centers; (3) Home Study Courses; I 

I (4) Debate and Declamation; (5) County Economic and Social i 

j Surveys; (6) Municipal Reference; (7) Educational Information f 

! and Assistance; (8) Women's Club Activities. \ 

I I 

! i 

I Write to the University when you need help. i 



= For further information, address i 

! i 

! The President of the University ! 

! ! 

! Chapel Hill, N. C. ( 

I \ 

1 I 



I 

I J. H. AUSTIN, President D. W. LAMBE, Cashier 

I BANK OF FOUR OAKS 



FOUR OAKS. N. C. 

Capital Stock $25,000.00 

Surplus 10,000.00 



We are in better position than ever to take care of our pa- 
trons. Loans made on real estate at 6 per cent interest without 
bonus or commission charges. Notes payable in 20 years, or can 
I be retired at any time after 5 years. 



We make all reasonable effort to take care of the needs of our 
regular customers. 

Thanking you for your patronage in the past, we anticipate 
a continuance of the same mutually pleasant and profitable re- 
I lation in the future. 

i 



I i 

I Charles W. Home, Pres. Jno. T. Talton, Cashier i 

j D. H. McCullers, V. -President W. F. AVeathers, Asst. Cashier j 

j THE CLAYTON BANKING | 
I AND TRUST CO. j 

CLAYTON, N. C. 

I ( 

i [ 

( Capita! and Surplus over $125,000.00 1 

11 

! We Will Appreciate Your Business I 

f 

i 



. B. Oliver and Son 



I 

I When in Pine Level Visit 

i 
i 
i 
i 
i 

I Merchants and Planters 

I Fertilizer a Specialty 

j 

I Cotton Buyers 

j Established 1868 






t ""'^" '^" ' "^"^" ' " ""^'i* 

j F. K. BROADHURST, J. D. UNDERWOOD ( 

I President Sec. Treas. & Gen- Mgr. | 

I Cotter-Underwood Company | 

j Authorized Capital Stock $25,000.00 j 

1 Surplus, $230,000.00 j 

j Organized 1902 i 

i i 

I — Dealers In — i 

t Dry Goods, Groceries, Fertilizers i 

I Buggies, Furniture and Cotton | 

j Undertakers and Embalmers s 

I Smithfield, N. C. j 



SODAS- 
SATISFACTION— 
SERVICE— 

OUR Prescription De- 
partment is the 

BEST IN TOWN 

We are glad to see you 
at all times! 

JOHNSTON & 
STEPHENSON 

Opposite Court House 
SMITHFIELD, N. C. 



THE HANDICAP 

OF POOR HABIT 

The Habit of not 
SAVING 

Most of us want to be pros- 
perous, independent, suc- 
cessful. But few realize the 
goal can only be reached by 
g:ood habits, and that one of 
the most important is saving. 

To those who realize the val- 
ue of Thrift, this bank of- 
fers helpful, courteous ser- 
vice, plus 4 per cent com- 
pound interest on deposits. 

THE BANK OF KENLY 

E. V. NEIGHBORS, Cashier 



THE FARMERS BANK 

Capital Stock $23,000.00 

This Bank has built its business on person- 
al service and co-operation. The officers will 
be glad to serve you w^hen you make know^n 
your needs to them. 

Come to See Us 

CLAYTON, N. C. 



AsKley Home and Son 

Farraers and dealers in 

General cMerchandise 

Clayton, N. C. 



FOUR OAKS GIN PLANT 

Four Oaks, N. C. 

We operate a modern cotton ginnery, and 

buy Cotton Seed 
We carry in stock standard Fertilizers, Ni- 
trate of Soda, Cotton Seed Meal and Acid 
Phosphate. 

Call en us when you vv^ish to buy Fertilizers. 
Let Us gin your cotton 

FOUR OAKS GIN PLANT 

Four Oaks, N. C. 

W. M. Sanders Jno. W. Sanders 



j We Appreciate Your Business, Large or Small ! 

I When in Smithfield Give Us a Trial [ 

I Agents for | 

! Chase and Sanborn's Teas and Coffees | 

\ , j 

j Purina Chows I 

I PEEDIN & PETERSON, Grocers | 

i SMITHFIELD, N- C. j 

j 290 Telephones 78 | 

I C. M. & W. G. WILSON i 

I — Manufacturers of and Dealers in — | 

i Sash^ Doors, Blinds, Mouldings, Brackets and Other j 

! Building Material, Dressed and Rough Lumber | 

! Grolls, Mantels, Balusters, Scroll Work, Porch and Stair Rails, Pul- | 

I pits, Pew Ends, Newels, Plinth and Corner Blocks, Screen Doors, | 

I Windows, Store Fronts, all kinds Turned Work, etc. I 

Wood isnd Metal Store Fronts a Specialty S 

Wilson Mills, N. C. I 



r 



When in Princeton | 

I will always be glad to see you | 

Make my Store your Headquarters 1 

j 
J. R. LEDBETTER [ 



General Merchant 



Princeton, N. C. j 




Splendid Fertilizer Attachment if Wanted 

B1]AT THE BOLL WI:E\IL 

Crop Rotation Will Help. Get a fine crop of Oats or 

other grain and follow with Corn, Peas, etc. 

THE COLE One-Horse GRAIN DRILL 

With either Disc or Hoe Openers 

The seed are planted in DEEP FURROWS which protect 
the grain from Cold Winds, and PREVENTS WINTER 
KILLING. The Cole is fine for all kinds of grain. It 
will sow ANY KIND of Oats, and make Oats a SURE and 
PROFITABLE CROP anywhere. The Cole One-Row Drill 
i.> just as good as the Three-Row, only it takes more time. 
Call and see these Drills and let us tell you more about 
their good point?. 

OUR STORE IS HEADQUARTERS 

for the famous COLE PLANTERS and GRAIN DRILLS. 
Be sure you get the GENUINE COLE and do not let 
anyone sell you an inferior imitation- 

YOU ARE WELCOME AT OUR STORE 

whether you buy anything or not- See our high class 
goods and low prices so you will know hte best 'place 
to go when you need anything in our line. 

W. M. SANDERS 



ph< 



21 



SMITHFIELD, N. C 



Phone 21 



A Good Drug Store 

With a complete, mod- 
ern stock, of everything 
carried in a progressive 
Drug Store, Our service 
is unexcelled. To serve 
3^ou best with the best 
of everything is our 
Motto. 

We Appreciate Your 

Business, Trade With 

Us. 

Johnston County's 

Leading Drug Store 

CREECH DRUG CO. 

D. Heber Creech, Mgr. 

Smithfield, N. C. 

Telephone 363 



P. B. JOHNSON 

Leading Merchant in 
Benson, N. C, a Thriv- 
ing Town, in the Best 
Farming Section in 
North Carolina 

— Dealer in — 

Cotton, Fertilizers, Live 
Stock, Building Mater- 
ial and everything for 
the farmers. 

BENSON, N. C. 



! SUNNYBROOK FARM 
Clayton, N. C. 

My principal work is 
farming, here in John- 
ston, but most of my 
time is taken up with 
promoting Profiressive 
Agriculture. I am still 
at the Farmers' service. 
My hobby is corn; I am 
breeding five varieties 
to determine the most 
profitable for Johnston. 
You are welcome at my 
home anytime. Yours 
for better times for the 
larmer. 

A. M. JOHNSON 



Johnston County 
Hospital, Inc. 

Smithfield. N. C. 

A memorial to the 
Sons of Johnston Coun- 
ty who rendered service 
in the World War, and 
an institution to serve 
the people of the 
county. 



W. M. Sanders C. W. Beasley 



When you consider building with brick you 
should realize the 



BEAUTY 

QUALITY 

PERMANANCE and 

ECONOMY of our brick. 



A Brick Made in Johnston 



Manufactured by 

SANDERS and BEASLEY 

SMiTHFIELD, N. C. 
Phone 21 or 150 



G. W. Evans, President J. W. Peedin, Cashier 

P. C. Worley. V.-Pres. Gertrude Stallings, Asst. Cash. 



First cNational ^ank 

SELMA, N. C. 



Resources $400,000.00 backed by a Board 
of Directors whose net worth is over one- 
half MilHon Dollars. 



SAFE, SOUND and CONSERVATIVE 

Remember us when you have money. We 
will remember you when you have none.. 



H hk BO 



^ankin^ Headquarters For 
Johnston County 



Capital $175,000.00 Surplus $52,500.00 
Resources Over $1,500,000.00 



The Old Big Strong Bank I 

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invites your patronage. I 



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First and Citizens } 
National Bank | 

SMITHFIELD, N. C. | 



IT IS NO LONGER 



necessary for persons living at a distance to keep extra 
funds in the house until a visit to the bank is practical 
and convenient. 



That idea is out-of-date. 



Today distance is no barrier. Banking by mail 
"brings the bank to you." It is no experiment; it has 
stood the test of time with aboslute reliability. 



THE FARMERS BANK offers you a full measure 
of service through your nearest mail box. 



All remittances sent by mail are acknowledged 
the day they are received, and promptly placed to the 
depositor's savings or checking account according to 
his instructions. 



THE FARMERS BANK makes a specialty of the 
accounts of Farmers and not only affords a place of 
f safety for their funds but we consider it a part of our 
duty to extend accommodation to our customers in the 
form of loans from time to time. 



Our Savings Department Pays Interest at the Rate of 
4 Per Cent Compounded Quarterly 

i TKe FA^RMERS BANK ! 



\ KENLY, N. C. 






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N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 



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